PHOENIX (AP) -- Republican legislators have tried to keep Arizona environmental regulators on a tight leash in the recent past and some lawmakers now appear inclined to cinch it again.

Lawmakers on Wednesday began a two-day oversight hearing to recommend whether the Department of Environmental Quality should be reauthorized during the next legislative session beyond the June 30 expiration now set in state law.

The hearing at times put a spotlight on such controversial matters as Arizona's participation in a regional initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and permits for uranium mines in northern Arizona.

With strong business support for keeping the agency alive because the alternative would have the federal government act in its stead, the Legislature is unlikely to kill the agency outright.

However, lawmakers could again give it a short reauthorization and even try to include new mandates or restrictions on the agency's operations.

Sen. Chuck Gray, a Mesa Republican who in January will become Senate majority leader, said the reauthorization should make it clear that Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano needs legislative authorization to commit the state to action on greenhouse gases.

"There's going to have to be some clarification under what parameters we want the agency continued," he said.

Because of legislative concerns, DEQ has never received the full 10-year reauthorization that is typical for most agencies.

Lawmakers are again questioning whether DEQ treats regulated industries fairly and, as in 2005 when the last reauthorization was enacted, whether the agency has exceeded its authority under state law in pushing Napolitano's policy initiatives.

Those include the Western Climate Initiative's planned new cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Citing potential costs to ratepayers and other concerns, legislators said they think Napolitano needs their permission to commit the state but don't know Napolitano's stance.

"We're approaching uncharted territory," said Sen. Robert Blendu, R-Litchfield Park. "We're going to bind ourselves in an unknown way and an unknown manner."

DEQ Director Steve Owens said Napolitano has yet to take any action on the proposal other than to begin discussions with affected industries and others.

"The governor makes the decisions and she gives us the direction that she wants us to follow," he said.

While some legislators said businesses critical of DEQ were reluctant to speak out for fear of retaliation, a Denison Mines Corp. executive testified that the Toronto-based company was frustrate by denial and stalling on requests for environmental permits.

DEQ ultimately denied permit requests and then stonewalled the company's attempts to agree on changes, according to Harold Roberts, Denison executive president for U.S. operations. "Basically we're dead in the water right now," Roberts said.

Owens said Denison should have applied for narrower permits than those requested and that the department has to be careful in handling the applications given controversy surrounding uranium mining in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon.

"Whatever we do, we're going to get sued," Owens said.

Owens earlier defended his agency in general, saying it's done a good job with less funding and fewer personnel. "We have been responsive when problems have occurred," he said.

The agency is responsible for air and water quality. Programs it runs test auto emissions, issue permits for potential generators of pollution and clean up contamination from leaking underground fuel storage tanks.

The four-year reauthorization approved by the Legislature in 2005 was a compromise between a two-year renewal endorsed by some majority Republicans and a standard 10-year renewal sought by Democrats and some Republicans.

If DEQ is abolished, some of its environmental oversight duties would shift to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

That possibility troubles business, so representatives of several major Arizona utilities urged lawmakers to reauthorize DEQ.

"It is much easier to work a local agency with the director and its staff than to have to go to San Francisco or back east," said Phil Dion, a Tucson Electric Power vice president.

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On the Net:

Department of Environmental Quality: http://www.azdeq.gov

Arizona Legislature: http://www.azleg.state.az.us

Denison Mines: http://www.denisonmines.com

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