[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 7, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H1300-H1301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REPEALING PROHIBITION ON USE OF CERTAIN FUNDS WITH RESPECT TO LOS 
     ANGELES TO SAN FERNANDO VALLEY METRO RAIL PROJECT, CALIFORNIA

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 238) to repeal a prohibition on the use of certain funds for 
tunneling in certain areas with respect to the Los Angeles to San 
Fernando Valley Metro Rail project, California.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 238

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

     SECTION 1. REPEAL OF PROHIBITION.

       The second sentence of section 321 of the Department of 
     Transportation and Related

[[Page H1301]]

     Agencies Appropriations Act, 1986 (99 Stat. 1287) is 
     repealed.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  This bill will repeal a prohibition on the use of Federal transit 
funds for tunneling in certain areas for construction of the San 
Fernando Valley Metro Rail project in Southern California.
  Many of us can remember the tragedy over 20 years ago caused by an 
explosion due to the buildup of methane gas, which ignited after 
accumulating over a long period of time, on the Third Street Corridor 
in the Wilshire-Fairfax District of Los Angeles. It just rocked the 
entire area. The explosion damaged a building structure, injured 22 
people. A preliminary investigation pointed to the ignition of 
underground pockets of pressurized gas.
  The incident raised a great many safety concerns related to tunneling 
in the area to build the Metro Rail system. The Los Angeles City 
Council created a task force at the time to investigate the explosion 
to determine the cause of the accident, to make recommendations to 
avoid further incidents.
  The results of the investigation identified two methane risk zones to 
assure that the safety concerns on construction of that segment of the 
Metro Rail were fully addressed. A provision was included in the fiscal 
year 1986 transportation appropriations bill to prohibit the use of 
Federal funds until safety concerns had been properly addressed.
  The gentleman who took that cause to the committee, to the House, the 
gentleman from California, my colleague, we were elected in the same 
year, 1974, Mr. Waxman, has been vigilant on this issue and vigorous in 
his pursuit of safety for the people of Los Angeles County.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Waxman).
  Mr. WAXMAN. Thank you very much for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is noncontroversial. It relates to a situation 
in Los Angeles where prohibition was put in place to prevent tunneling 
in an area that has been designated as a high risk for methane gas 
explosions. The bill before us would repeal that prohibition about 
tunneling, because, at the request of Mayor Villaraigosa, we agreed to 
convene a panel of experts to assure us that it is technically feasible 
to handle the tunneling in a very safe manner, that the technology is 
there and that we need not fear the tunneling as we might have, 
appropriately so, in the mid-1980s.
  In 2004, the L.A. City Council passed a motion urging reversal of 
this 1985 law, and in February of 2005, the LAMTA board renewed 
discussions of the subway expansion in this area.
  I strongly support this legislation. There is no opposition to it. I 
appreciate the committee having reported out unanimously, and I would 
urge my colleagues in the House to agree with the proposal coming from 
the committee.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 238 is noncontroversial legislation. In the last 
Congress, it was reported unanimously by the House Transportation 
Committee and passed the House by voice vote.
  H.R. 238 would repeal a law enacted in 1985 that prohibits subway 
tunneling in a part of Los Angeles I represent. I authored the 1985 
legislation after a methane gas explosion demolished a Ross Dress-for-
Less store in the Third and Fairfax area of Los Angeles.
  After the explosion, serious safety concerns were raised about the 
city's plans to extend the subway in this area due to underground 
pockets of methane gas. In recent years, experts have indicated that 
technologies have been developed that could make tunneling in the area 
safe.
  In 2004, the Los Angeles City Council passed a motion urging a 
reversal of the 1985 law, and in February 2005 the Los Angeles 
Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board voted to renew 
discussions of the subway's expansion in this area.
  As a result, I worked with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to select a 
panel of scientific experts to conduct an independent safety review. 
These experts made a unanimous determination in a November 2005 report 
that tunneling in the methane gas area can be done safely if proper 
procedures and appropriate technologies are used.
  H.R. 238 simply lifts the Federal tunneling prohibition that has been 
in place since 1985. I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 238 repeals a 21-year-old prohibition on the use of 
Federal transit funds to tunnel in the San Fernando Valley area west of 
Los Angeles.
  In 1985, an explosion of naturally occurring methane gas blew up a 
department store in the Wilshire Boulevard Corridor in Los Angeles, 
injuring 22 people. As the gentleman from Minnesota aptly pointed out, 
concerned about the safety of tunneling in the area of Los Angeles, the 
city council created a task force to investigate the explosion. The 
task force identified methane risk zones along the Wilshire Boulevard 
Corridor.
  The fiscal year 1986 transportation appropriations bill included a 
legislative provision that prohibits the use of Federal transit funds 
associated with the Los Angeles project for tunneling in or through an 
identified methane risk zone. The appropriations provision was written 
very broadly, binding future funds provided by Congress and affecting 
all parts of the Metro Rail subway project, including future 
extensions. The prohibition prevented any transportation planners in 
the Los Angeles area from considering any transportation improvements 
that might involve tunneling in the very broadly congested Wilshire 
Boulevard Corridor.
  For me, Mr. Speaker, the need for this bill to be passed simply 
highlights the dangers of legislating an appropriations bill. H.R. 238 
undoes something that should never have been done in the first place. 
In November 2005, a panel of engineering experts reported that 
tunneling along the Wilshire Boulevard Corridor can be done safely if 
proper procedures and appropriate techniques are used.
  This bill, H.R. 238, will repeal the current prohibition on tunneling 
in that corridor. This legislation was first introduced by Congressman 
Waxman in December of 2005 as H.R. 4653 and was passed by the House in 
September of 2006. However, the Senate failed to act on the 
legislation, which is the reason we are back here on the floor today.
  I do support H.R. 238, and I urge its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. I want to supplement the remarks of the gentleman from 
California, my colleague from Missouri, the ranking member on the 
subcommittee, that we now believe that the city council has resolved 
the issues. The mayor has put in place the process by which the 
tunneling can continue in all safety to both those doing the tunneling 
and those above ground and now advance the urgently needed transit 
project in Los Angeles into the San Fernando Valley area. So I urge the 
passage of H.R. 238.
  Mr. GRAVES. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Oberstar) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 238.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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