by Nicholas Confessore

Gov. David A. Paterson issued a sweeping executive order on Friday that would allow a handpicked group of top aides to repeal state regulations they deem outdated or overly burdensome to businesses.

With Mr. Paterson facing looming budget deficits and eager to squeeze savings out of state spending, the order will give his inner circle — and those with access to it — far tighter control over New York’s sprawling bureaucracy while diminishing the influence of commissioners and agency officials.

When an earlier version of the order was obtained by the news media last year, it caused an outcry among labor, environmental and consumer groups, who feared that the plan would make it too easy for industries to weaken regulations and rules they opposed. Mr. Paterson’s aides backed away from the proposal and said it was only a draft.

But the final order appears largely unchanged from the draft. The order establishes a regulatory review and reform committee, made up of five senior members of Mr. Paterson’s cabinet and led by his secretary, Lawrence S. Schwartz, who has described himself as Mr. Paterson’s “enforcer.”

Agencies are already required to conduct lengthy reviews of new procedures and regulations before they become final. But under the new order, they will also be required to review such rules after they are put into effect.

Officials will be required to invite public comment on whether any existing rules and regulations — no matter when they were enacted — are “unnecessary, unbalanced, unwise, duplicative or unduly burdensome.” The committee would then reconsider rules that have generated the most criticism.

The first round of review will involve seven departments and agencies, including those responsible for environmental, health, liquor and labor regulations.

“There are clear examples of times when government regulations are imperative,” Mr. Paterson said in a statement. “The economic crisis that our country is currently facing was created, in part, by lax or nonexistent regulation on some of our largest financial institutions. However, a responsive and balanced regulatory system is also vital to the promotion of New York State’s economy and the welfare of its citizens.”

Mr. Paterson, a liberal Democrat who has taken up the mantle of fiscal conservatism in response to the state’s economic crisis, has in recent months faced a loss of support from labor unions and other traditional Democratic constituencies worried about his chances of winning election next year.

As a result, Mr. Paterson is under significant pressure to win political and financial support from business and industry groups, many of which issued statements Friday praising the order.

“Governor Paterson’s proposal on regulatory reform rightly recognizes that state government needs to remove obstacles to private-sector job growth in order for New York’s economy to recover,” said Kenneth Adams, president of the Business Council of New York State.

But it drew criticism from good-government groups who questioned how transparent the new committee’s deliberations will be, and why the committee was even necessary.

“All this will do is tie agencies up in knots at a time when they have fewer resources than ever to carry out their essential functions,” said Laura Haight of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a nonpartisan watchdog group. “This is a backdoor assault on New York’s laws to protect our health, environment and safety, which is sure to be greeted with cheers from New York’s business community.”

Environmental groups were particularly incensed by the timing of the announcement, a day after Mr. Paterson proposed ambitious targets for reducing New York’s carbon emissions.

“When they circulated this last year, business groups said their top priority was overturning climate change regulations,” said Robert J. Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York. “Yesterday they were asking us for a quote in support of the climate change proposal. Today they release this, and they didn’t even give us a heads-up. Talk about cynical.”

Morgan Hook, a spokesman for the governor, denied that the order was meant to undermine consumer and environmental regulations.

“Just because there is this process by which we will review regulations does not mean that we are going to repeal or change regulations that the governor supports or that are working,” he said.