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PHOENIX — State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation overturning newly enacted vehicle emission standards for greenhouse gases, setting the stage for a showdown with Gov. Janet Napolitano.

The 36-22 vote came as several legislators said a policy this important, and potentially expensive, for Arizona consumers should be decided by elected representatives, not imposed unilaterally. They pointed out the state Department of Environmental Quality enacted the standards at the express direction of the governor.

But Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, said lawmakers have known for years about Napolitano's directive and have chosen to do nothing about greenhouse-gas emissions, at least not until voting now to ensure DEQ also does nothing.

"We've been asleep at the wheel," he said.

Sen. Jake Flake, R-Snowflake, who wrote the ban on DEQ action in HB 2017, said it is important to spell out in law that the Legislature sets policy, not the governor or her hand-picked agency chiefs.

"Maybe we are a day late and a dollar short in doing it," he conceded. "But it's important that we do do it and don't wait forever."

Napolitano has hinted broadly she will veto the measure, saying the new rule is within the powers lawmakers gave to the agency years ago. She also has said that lawmakers sometimes move too slowly and the Legislature is often not "the best body to actually rule on very technical matters."

The House vote came just hours after the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which opposes new greenhouse-gas emission standards, released a poll organization president Glenn Hamer said shows Arizonans don't want the new rules.

But the questions in the survey, paid for by the business community, may have influenced the answers.

For example, one question asks whether people would be willing to pay an extra $3,000 for cars and trucks to meet the new emission standards. More than 60 percent said "no."

Figures from the California Air Resources Board, which first adopted the rules Arizona is mimicking, put the cost at less than $1,100, not $3,000.

And Hamer acknowledged there is a financial benefit to buying the cars manufactured to the new standards because their higher fuel efficiency will reduce the need to buy gasoline — a point never mentioned to those questioned in the survey.

"I don't believe it really matters in terms of all the details," he said.

Rep. David Schapira, D-Tempe, said he believes people are willing to pay something extra to minimize the effects of global warming caused by increased emissions of carbon dioxide, from not only vehicles but also industrial sources. He said there is evidence climate change already is taking place, with effects ranging from more severe hurricanes to more wildfires.

But House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, said that is irrelevant to the debate over HB 2017.

"This isn't about greenhouse effect, this isn't about the environment," he said. It's about legislative authority to review these kinds of policies, not "an agency head or a governor behind closed doors." he said.

Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, agreed, noting that in forfeiting their policy-setting authority, lawmakers are "disenfranchising our constituents in the process."

The governor's new rule would require each automobile manufacturer to reduce overall greenhouse-gas emissions from total sales in the state starting with the 2012 model year. Some vehicles that don't meet the 37 percent reduction by 2016 could still be available in Arizona as long as the manufacturer sold sufficient other models with greater greenhouse-gas reductions.

However, the rule could not take effect until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gives California permission to adopt its own standards.

California sued after the EPA refused. Arizona, whose rules piggy-back on the California regulations, has joined that lawsuit.

HB 2017 is aimed at more than just blocking the new vehicle emission rules. It also would short-circuit efforts by DEQ to enact new "cap and trade" greenhouse-gas regulations on utilities and other industrial polluters.

These rules would set absolute limits on total emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases, on either a state or regional level. Companies that more than met those standards would be able to sell their excess right to pollute to other firms.

Hamer said individual states should not enact their own greenhouse-gas emission rules, since there should be a single federal standard.

But Hamer, under questioning, also said his organization and its member utilities would oppose federal legislation that would increase the cost of doing business, including the cost of producing electricity.

Instead, he said, Congress should enact tax incentives and credits to encourage companies to reduce pollution.