ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Officials to Study Possible John Wayne Airport Takeover : Recovery: Rep. Cox indicates a likelihood of easing rules that now make a transfer almost impossible.

Orange County transportation officials voted Monday to study a takeover of John Wayne Airport, shortly after a local congressman indicated that the current political climate might favor easing federal regulations now standing in the way.

U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) met privately Monday morning with Supervisors William G. Steiner and Jim Silva, and also offered to seek legislation that could potentially open the door for further layoffs by reducing the county’s requirement to pay for unfunded, federally mandated programs.

“Dramatically reducing the number of employees at the county level is an important step in downsizing county government, but until the mandates are lifted, the county’s ability to fire people is crimped,” Cox said.

Cox said he is not encouraging the county to pursue layoffs, but said he wants to help the county review all of its options in the wake of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The supervisors said they were pleased that the congressman urged them to seek the federal legislation they would need to move forward with selling the airport or transferring ownership.

“He encouraged us to take advantage of a more sympathetic Republican Congress,” Steiner said after the meeting with Cox. “He said to us, flat out, the slate has been wiped clean with regard to assumptions in Congress.”

The bankrupt county has repeatedly considered selling off the airport, one of its most prized assets, as a way to raise some of the $1.7 billion lost when the county’s investment pool went bust. The Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday voted to study its options.

Currently, cumbersome federal regulations appear to make an airport transfer all but impossible. One regulation raises questions about whether the county would even profit from an airport sale, since federal guidelines require that proceeds must be applied to aviation uses.

Silva said his meeting with Cox also touched on federal mandates--services that counties are required to provide--sometimes without the federal funding to do so.

“He said he would be willing to help relieve some of the mandated programs,” which could help in downsizing government, said Silva, who arranged the meeting with Cox, a longtime friend. “That would be a big help,” he added.

Seemingly insurmountable federal guidelines, in part, led to a decision last week to abruptly halt a plan to begin soliciting proposals for purchasing the airport. On Monday, however, officials said they were pleased that the county is moving forward.

“I think it’s a good idea to explore all options, to look at all the facts,” John Wayne Airport Director Janice Mittermeier said.

Under one proposed scenario, the Orange County Transportation Authority would write off $132 million the county owes the transportation agency, invest $84 million toward helping those who lost money in the county investment pool, and assume $250 million in airport debt. Such a deal would also make the airport the jewel in OCTA’s transportation domain.

In other developments Monday, Supervisor Roger R. Stanton proposed looking into whether the Environmental Management Agency could be privatized as a way to save the county money and provide more efficient services. Officials at EMA, which oversees a variety of services from planning to public works to maintaining harbors, beaches and parks, did not return phone calls seeking comment.