Parties on both sides of the argument acknowledged the bill, introduced by Jarchow and Sen. Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, is long and complex. It includes some changes Jarchow classified as "technical fixes," but also introduces some new policies.

“For a lot of people this looks like a special interest Christmas tree," said Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine.

Under current law, the state Department of Natural Resources' board can designate certain bodies of water as areas of special natural resource interest. Construction projects in those areas require permits. The bill would limit the kinds of water bodies to which that designation can be given, and those designations would be approved by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee rather than the DNR board.

The bill also places limits on what the DNR can require when granting permits for activities conducted in or near navigable waterways, and exempts some activities — such as dredging of an artificial body of water that doesn't connect to a navigable waterway — from the permitting requirements.

It also makes changes to regulations involving piers, boathouses, boat shelters, seawalls and riprap. Projects emitting discharge from a roadside ditch or stormwater retention basin would be exempt from permitting requirements under the proposal.