Gov. Jim Doyle signed Assembly Bill 655 Thursday in De Pere, Wis., implementing regulatory reform in Wisconsin while maintaining environmental standards, according to a press release.
\This legislation will streamline regulations, making agencies respond faster and more efficiently while protecting health and environmental standards,"" Doyle said. ""And it sends a powerful signal that we're turning Wisconsin around to make us more competitive and attract new jobs.""
The bill allows water permits to be approved in a month, instead of 110 days. Doyle has begun diminishing the Department of Natural Resources' backlog of more than 500 air permit applications.
Doyle said permit approvals will be more efficient, enabling entrepreneurs ??to create more state jobs.
The governor's regulatory reform is the most aggressive in the Midwest and is part of his future vision for the state.
Tom Ryan, known for his orange attire and daily piccolo performances on State Street Mall, was found not guilty of violating the city's ordinance against unreasonably loud noises Wednesday, The Capital Times reported.
A Dane County Circuit Court jury found Ryan not guilty after testimony from vendors and UW-Madison physics Professor Robert March, who conducted tests and testified the decibel rating of the piccolo sound is far less than passing traffic or other noise in the area.
Ryan explained to jurors that he played the piccolo for a living.
Ryan was issued a ticket for violating the city's noise ordinance last year after nearby vendors complained of his daily piccolo playing.
