President Unveils Plan to Help Areas Hit by Base Closures : Federal aid: Measures are aimed at helping communities make quick use of abandoned facilities. Some may get surplus land at a discount.

President Clinton, seeking to help communities that will be hit hard by the new round of military base closings, Friday unveiled a series of steps designed to streamline the process and allow vacated property to be converted quickly for use in creating new jobs.

In a press conference at the White House, the President announced plans to reduce the amount of red tape in the cleanup and turnover of unneeded installations, to appoint special coordinators to oversee each base closing and to simplify procedures for federal aid.

He also promised to propose legislation that will enable the Pentagon to sell surplus land and facilities to communities at a discount--or in some cases to provide it free of charge--if it is used for job-creating endeavors.

The five-point proposal also spotlighted earlier proposals by the President for appropriating about $1 billion a year in aid for items such as environmental cleanup.

Provisions for new spending would require congressional approval--which is not a certainty, given the cost-cutting bent of Congress.

The unveiling of the measures--accompanied by briefings from a bevy of Cabinet officers--came as Clinton approved recommendations by an independent commission to shut down 35 major military installations in the United States, including seven large bases in California.

Seeking to ease anxiety over the base shutdowns, Clinton promised that the Administration would use the money to “provide an average grant of $1 million to each community affected” by the closing of a major base--an effort that he described as “unprecedented.”

He also urged affected communities to take heart, saying that the job losses need not be permanent.

He said his program would “ensure that when we close these bases, we also open a new and brighter economic future for the affected workers and their communities.”

Despite the President’s rhetoric, Administration officials conceded privately that the proposal is likely to help only marginally. They said the most helpful factor in assisting a community recover from a base closing would be an upturn in the overall economy.

The proposal was hailed by representatives of communities that have been involved in base-closing ventures. Many of them had complained that the slow pace of the federal operation too often left bases in limbo and impeded economic recovery in their areas.

William L. Laubernds, president of the National Assn. of Installation Developers, a vocal critic of the base-closing process, praised the proposal as “clearly moving in the right direction.” But he cautioned that the proof would lie in the implementation.

Keith Cunningham, an analyst for Business Executives for National Security, a defense-oriented research group, expressed skepticism about how effective the changes would be.

“I’m very concerned that he (Clinton) is creating over-expectation,” he said.

Clinton’s new proposal contains these major elements:

* Fast-track status for communities that want to use outmoded bases for economic development. Besides offering them discount prices, the Pentagon will speed initial screening and interim leasing of facilities and will include furniture and equipment in the bargain.

* Faster cleanup of pollution on surplus bases, with interim leasing of small parcels of land as soon as they are ready. A federal cleanup team will be stationed at every base. Legal snags over who is liable for injuries stemming from the contamination will be resolved.

* Reduction in the red tape involved in transfer of bases. The Pentagon will assign a full-time “transition coordinator” to each base, with authority to make quick decisions and to serve as an advocate for the community in processing the transaction and obtaining aid.

* More aggressive action by federal officials in providing economic development aid, community assistance grants and worker retraining benefits to communities that are hit by base closings.

* Larger--and faster--planning grants to help communities develop a viable strategy for using unneeded bases, particularly in attracting more jobs. The Pentagon would help support local redevelopment organizations, not just provide advice.

Major California bases to be closed under the recommendations approved by the President include the Marine Corps air station at El Toro and six naval installations--the air station and depot at Alameda, a station at Treasure Island, the hospital at Oakland, the shipyard at Mare Island and the training center at San Diego.

Also to be shut down are the naval air station at Hunter’s Point, the naval engineering command at San Bruno, the civil engineering laboratory at Port Hueneme, the naval public works center in San Francisco and the surface-ship repair-and-alterations facility in San Francisco.

March Air Force Base in Riverside will be scaled back to a reserve center.