Republicans moved quickly on proposed changes to state air pollution rules Wednesday, introducing and holding a hearing on a bill supporters said cleans up changes passed last year, but which critics said threatens serious harm to Wisconsin's air quality.

Environmental groups and others decried the legislation as much for the speed with which it was being pushed through as for its potential impact. Lawmakers could vote on the measure next week.

It mattered little that a top air quality regulator for the state Department of Natural Resources ultimately weighed in favor of the changes, as did Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle; critics were still suspicious.

"When you give the public less than 24 hours to analyze and comment on a bill that could have serious effects on their health and the health of their children, you clearly are hoping to sneak something by them," said Kerry Schumann, executive director of Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters.

Democrats sought unsuccessfully to delay a hearing on the measure, which eases air quality regulations on certain classes of air polluters, complaining only industry lobbyists and government insiders had had a chance to examine the bill fully.

"It stinks. It's wrong. It's inappropriate," said Rep. Gary Hebl, D-Sun Prairie. "It's not the way we do government in Wisconsin."

Rep. Scott Gunderson, R- Waterford, chairman of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, agreed the bill was moving quicker than he preferred, but noted the committee had given proper notice, putting a draft of the measure on its agenda Tuesday.

"This is not something I want to do," Gunderson said. "But when the majority party wants to move something forward, this is the prerogative they have."

Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, did not return a message seeking comment.

Wednesday's blowup echoed complaints over last session's Job Creation Act, a sweeping regulatory change measure that streamlined the process by which businesses and landowners could get air and water permits. That bill, too, was introduced hours before a committee hearing and a day before lawmakers had hoped to vote on it, sparking sharp protests.

Late Monday, Republicans sent colleagues drafts of two bills, which they're calling the Job Creation Act II. The first (AB 277), which was the subject of Wednesday's hearing, would:

• Authorize the DNR to exempt certain small- and medium-sized industries that obtain what's called a "general" operating permit from having to seek separate air pollution construction permits for proposed expansions.

• Allow the DNR to permit some companies with very low air pollution emissions - such as auto body shops or small printers - from having to renew their air quality permits. Normally, such permits expire every five years.

• Allow companies that appeal emission standards not to comply with those new limits until the appeal is decided.

• Require the state to prepare a report identifying "regulatory barriers" to the growth of the state's manufacturing sector.

The companion bill (AB 278), which a spokeswoman for Doyle emphasized the governor does not support, would limit the scope of expert witnesses in court testimony and restrict the ability of state and local governments to sue corporations for public nuisances if the companies are not breaking the law.

A hearing on that bill is scheduled for 10 a.m. today in Room 328 Northwest of the Capitol.

Melissa Scanlan, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates, said the changes could let air polluters increase harmful emissions without DNR oversight. She said the air quality bill unfairly blocks public input when corporations want to expand, limiting any comment to the period during which the company is seeking its general permit.

She also faulted the provision allowing industries to delay proposed rules.

"If the DNR is not going along with industry's demands on an emission limit, all the industry has to do is file a lawsuit and that would stop the emission limit from going into place," Scanlan said.

But Mary Jo Kopecky, deputy administrator for the DNR's Air and Waste Division, concurred with the bill's author, Rep. Jean Hundertmark, R-Clintonville, that the bill merely clarifies the changes passed last year.

Major air polluters would still need to get permits for new construction, she said. And while companies could postpone new limits pending appeals, companies would still be bound by the terms of existing permits.

"We believe that this bill will not negatively affect air quality in Wisconsin," Kopecky said.

Companies that qualify for the indefinite permits, called "registration" permits, make up about two-thirds of the air- polluting industries in the state yet account for less than 6 percent of overall emissions, she said.

"By issuing registration and general permits as quickly and making them more boilerplate, we're going to be able to redirect resources" to focus on inspections and enforcement of the larger polluters, Kopecky said.

Contact Phil Brinkman at 252-6145 or pbrinkman@madison.com.