[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2784 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2784

To direct the Secretary of the Army to conduct a study on a prospective 
 cross-harbor rail freight tunnel connecting Brooklyn, New York, with 
                   the west side of New York Harbor.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 1993

  Mr. Nadler introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Public Works and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of the Army to conduct a study on a prospective 
 cross-harbor rail freight tunnel connecting Brooklyn, New York, with 
                   the west side of New York Harbor.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``New York Harbor Tunnel Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) trans-harbor and trans-Hudson River transportation 
        links in the vicinity of New York City have been the 
        prospective targets of terrorists intent on taking the lives of 
        innocent Americans and disrupting the commerce of the United 
        States;
            (2) the security of such transportation infrastructure is 
        vital to the economic and military security of the Nation;
            (3) pursuant to a request by the city of New York, the New 
        York Economic Development Corporation will initiate a study, in 
        cooperation with and financed in part by the State of New York, 
        to determine whether New York should build an additional tunnel 
        to transport rail freight across New York Harbor;
            (4) an internal analysis conducted by the Army Corps of 
        Engineers in 1941 concluded that it would be in the Nation's 
        best interest to complete such a tunnel to help secure the 
        transportation system of the northeastern United States against 
        armed attack by foreign powers;
            (5) previous studies of the potential for such a tunnel, 
        conducted between 1920 and 1993, have concluded that various 
        alignments and configurations, including a tunnel from the 
        State of New York to the State of New Jersey, might be 
        feasible; and
            (6) if such a tunnel were built, it would be employed in 
        the conduct of interstate commerce.

SEC. 3. CROSS-HARBOR RAIL FREIGHT TUNNEL.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary of the Army shall conduct a study, in 
cooperation with local, State, and municipal authorities, on 
alternative physical and operational configurations of a prospective 
cross-harbor rail freight tunnel connecting Brooklyn, New York, with 
the west side of New York Harbor.
    (b) Components.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) determine whether the tunnel described in subsection 
        (a) could improve the security of the transportation system of 
        the region;
            (2) recommend ways to optimize the security of such tunnel, 
        including the use of operational and physical security 
        measures;
            (3) analyze which of the potential alignments and 
        configurations for such tunnel is the most secure against 
        attack, and determine the relative costs of construction for 
        each such alignment;
            (4) analyze how each alternative alignment for such tunnel 
        could be constructed and which alternatives are feasible, 
        consistent with the need for operational viability of the 
        tunnel after completion and the need to protect the environment 
        and to maintain navigation in New York Harbor during the 
        construction phase and thereafter; and
            (5) determine the costs of each feasible alternative 
        alignment for such tunnel, with and without the addition of 
        operational or physical security measures.
    (c) Experts and Consultants.--In conducting the study under 
subsection (a), the Secretary may procure temporary and intermittent 
services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code.
    (d) Report.--Not later than June 1, 1994, the Secretary shall 
transmit to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public 
Works of the Senate a report on the results of the study conducted 
under subsection (a).
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $800,000 for fiscal year 1994. 
Such sums shall remain available until expended.

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