Congressman Delays Federal El Toro Report

A long-awaited federal report evaluating a key aspect of the proposed El Toro airport has been delayed again, this time by a Florida congressman.

The report, analyzing how the new airport would operate within Southern California’s crowded airspace, was to have been released today by the Federal Aviation Administration. But its release was stopped by Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, until he could be briefed on its contents.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Riverside) said he was told by Mica on the House floor Thursday that the report would be released only after Mica’s briefing. The report was to have been delivered today to Rep. Darrell E. Issa, whose district includes south Orange County.

“[Mica] said, ‘I’m expecting my briefing Oct. 17,’ ” Calvert said--one day after the Orange County Board of Supervisors is expected to take its final vote on the airport plan.

“They’re basically withholding information,” Calvert said from Washington. “I’ve been here for 10 years and I’m amazed. I don’t care if you’re for the airport or against the airport, people should have this public information. This is not acceptable.”

Even as Mica was speaking with Calvert, a Mica spokesman in Washington denied that his boss had done anything to stop the report’s release. Gary Burns, Mica’s legislative director, said Mica asked for a briefing on the El Toro report weeks ago but didn’t order the report to be withheld.

Any member of Congress can ask for the report, Burns said.

Officials with the FAA in Washington, as well as federal Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. The report originally was to have been released in April.

Burns said Mica first requested a briefing last month, which he said was a “standard courtesy by the FAA” to an aviation subcommittee chairman. But more pressing matters related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have consumed Mica’s time.

Members of Issa’s staff said they were told by FAA representatives the report would not be delivered because Mica demanded his briefing first. “We’re very disappointed,” said Issa chief of staff Dale Neugebauer.

Republican Rep. Christopher Cox, whose district includes El Toro, said his office had been assured the report would be available today and hadn’t been told otherwise. Cox also represents Newport Beach, where officials and residents support an El Toro airport to prevent expansion of John Wayne Airport.

“I represent people with strong views on both sides of this issue,” Cox said. “I am certain, however, that they are united in putting safety first.”

The report is expected to address whether the county’s takeoff and landing patterns for El Toro will fit with other Southern California airports and flight paths. A study last year by an FAA airspace consultant faulted the county’s plans for planes taking off to the north--which is the opposite of other regional airports--because the skies are too saturated with aircraft to accommodate the flights safely and efficiently, according to the study.

The FAA had scheduled briefings last month in Washington and Los Angeles, anticipating the report’s release on Sept. 12. Those briefings were canceled, however, because of the terrorist attacks. Orange County members of Congress were to have been briefed in Washington, with county supervisors briefed at FAA offices in Los Angeles.

Mica endorsed Orange County’s plans for an airport at El Toro in August, when he toured the closed Marine base at the invitation of board Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad, an El Toro supporter.