Local News in Brief : Badham Asks Reagan to Delay El Toro Study

Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) has asked President Reagan to delay funding of a new study of the possible use of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station by commercial passenger jets.

In a letter sent to the White House this week, Badham said the new study by the Federal Aviation Administration will be wasteful because it will duplicate past reviews of the feasibility of joint use of the Marine base. Badham, who along with the Marines, is opposed to joint use, complained to Reagan that funding for the new study was included at the last minute in the catchall Continuing Resolution spending bill adopted by the House-Senate Budget Conference Committee in mid-December.

In his State of the Union address last week, Reagan was sharply critical of the flurry of late additions to the spending bill, many of them pet projects of various lawmakers. Reagan urged Congress to “rethink” those expenditures.

Badham “is simply following up on the President’s challenge to identify and delete those studies in the spending bill that are wasteful,” said Paul Wilkinson, a spokesman for Badham, whose 40th District includes El Toro.

A White House spokesman declined comment on the El Toro study, but added that the President is “committed to eliminating those projects that are excessive and unnecessary.”