White House Mulls Sale of Public Facilities : Infrastructure: The Administration is studying the plan as a way to ease budget burdens on local governments. Bush has not yet signed off on proposal.

WASHINGTON —  The White House is preparing an executive order to ease the way for state and local authorities to sell publicly held airports, roads, bridges, sewage treatment plants and other facilities to produce income and reduce their budget drain, a White House official said Saturday.

The plan, advanced by the Transportation Department, is being studied at the White House but is not expected to be presented to President Bush for several days, the official said.

It is designed “to generate revenue and take some things off the public rolls,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Revenue estimates were not available for the proposal, which reflects a continuing White House effort to shift some of the burdens of government to the private sector.

It represents an approach that has been given renewed attention throughout the Administration as Bush seeks to counter election-year criticism that he has focused on foreign policy rather than domestic issues.

The new order would give state and local governments more financial incentive to sell public assets, which are often built by local agencies with the assistance of federal money.

Current regulations allow the federal government to share in the proceeds of a sale, based on the percentage of the initial construction cost that was provided by Washington. The arrangement, however, discourages local officials from selling public facilities.

If revised, the federal share of sales revenues generally would be reduced, but officials have argued that the U.S. Treasury would reap a net gain because the added incentive for local governments would increase the number of such transactions.

The plan, disclosed Friday night by NBC News, comes at a time when White House officials and senior aides throughout the government have been seeking ways for Bush to demonstrate presidential concern for economic issues and other matters affecting Americans’ daily lives.

To a greater extent than at any point in his White House tenure, Bush has been given regular briefings on domestic matters, much as he meets daily on national security issues. The domestic policy offices at the White House have been reorganized under Clayton K. Yeutter, the newly appointed presidential adviser who previously served as secretary of agriculture and chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Even so, critics within the White House and outside the Administration have complained that the organization installed by Chief of Staff Samuel K. Skinner has brought a new degree of confusion, prompted by an excess of high-level aides.

The White House also is expected, officials said last week, to extend a 90-day moratorium on new government regulations. Bush declared the moratorium last January.

The plan is a key element in the President’s program to revive the nation’s economy by halting what he considers a costly trend toward unnecessary rules on private business.

Bush met Friday with Deputy Treasury Secretary John Robson and others to review proposed banking regulations offered by the American Banking Assn. Similar reviews are being conducted agency by agency and are likely to be the focus of a White House public relations effort this week as Bush attempts to spotlight what the White House calls “regulatory relief efforts.”