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.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to say that the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), with whom I entered Congress together in 1975, has been a champion of this project, but with a watchful eye on the way in which it was crafted and carried forward. And it has been his inspiration that has brought this project to the point where it is now, an agreed-upon initiative and financially sustainable and operationally successful.

I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from California and the gentleman from Pennsylvania have fully explained the provisions of this bill and the need for the project. It needs no further elaboration.

This project moves us further in the direction of advancing the cause of transit in our national transportation intermodal system.

Transit is the fastest growing sector of the transportation in America. We are adding 1 million new transit riders a day last year, for 375 million new transit trips, for 10.5 billion transit trips in America. At a time in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, New York accounted for over 60 percent of all transit trips in America. No longer. New York's share is down somewhere around 39 percent because the rest of the Nation is catching up and accelerating its use of transit.

In fact, if we could, as is done in Europe, have a mode shift of 10 percent of all trips taken for all purposes by transit, in America we would save 550 million barrels of oil a year, and that is the amount we import from Saudi Arabia.

The move to transit is inexorable; it is a necessary part of our overall balanced transportation system in America, and in this intensely populated area of Los Angeles, the San Fernando Metro Rail Project will make an enormous contribution to mobility and to savings in fuel consumption in America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the passage of H.R. 4653, to repeal a prohibition on the use of Federal transit funds for tunneling in certain areas for the construction of the San Fernando Valley Metro Rail project in Southern California.

More than 20 years ago, an explosion caused by the ignition of methane gas that had been accumulating along the Third Street corridor in the Wilshire-Fairfax District of Los Angeles rocked the area. The resulting explosion severely damaged a building structure and injured 22 people. A preliminary investigation into the cause of the explosion pointed to ignition of underground pockets of pressurized gas.

This incident raised safety concerns related to the proposed tunneling in the area to build the planned Metro Rail subway system. To address the safety concerns, the Los Angeles City Council created a Task Force to investigate the explosion to determine the cause of the accident and to make recommendations to avoid future incidents. The results of the investigation identified two methane risk zones.

To ensure that the safety concerns related to construction of the Metro Rail subway system were fully addressed prior to the use of Federal transit funds for the construction of the project, a provision was included in the fiscal year 1986 Transportation and Related Appropriations Act prohibiting the use of Federal funds for the project until certain safety concerns has been properly addressed.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that the initial concerns related to possible methane gas explosions associated with the construction of the project have been resolved through extensive reviews and studies. In October 2005, a peer review panel of engineering experts was convened at the request of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board to conduct an independent evaluation of gas-related safety issues associated with the proposed tunneling of the extension of the Metro Rail Line subway along Wilshire Boulevard. Based on the findings, the five-member panel of experts reported that tunneling along the Wilshire Boulevard corridor can be done safely using proper procedures and appropriate techniques.

In response to the findings of the peer review panel of experts, the City of Los Angeles and the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman) who represents areas along the proposed Metro Rail subway system corridor have joined together to support the enactment of H.R. 4653. The passage of H.R. 4653 will help advance badly needed transit projects throughout the Los Angeles to San Fernando Valley region.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of H.R. 4653 to remove the funding prohibition for the Los Angeles to San Fernando Valley Metro Rail Project.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4653) 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.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 4653 repeals a 20-year-old prohibition on the use of certain 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. Concerned about the safety of tunneling in this area of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles City Council created a task force to investigate the explosion. The task force identified methane risk zones along the Wilshire Boulevard corridor.

In 1985, the Los Angeles Red Line subway line was in the planning and design stage. Since then, the Red Line has been completely funded and built and has been in operation since 1993, with an extension to North Hollywood that was completed in 2000.

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 language was written very broadly, binding future funds provided by Congress and affecting all parts of the Metro Rail subway project, including future extensions.

However, in November of 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. 4653, was introduced by Congressman Waxman in December of 2005 and will repeal the current prohibition on tunneling in the Wilshire Boulevard corridor. With its passage, a more comprehensive transportation planning process can take place in the corridor, and future transportation proposals that involve tunneling will be eligible for Federal funding.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 4653.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to encourage my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 4653, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank everyone who assisted in bringing this bill to the floor today, Chairman Don Young, Ranking Member Oberstar, Representatives Jerry Lewis and David Dreier.

H.R. 4653 is noncontroversial legislation. It repeals a law enacted in 1985 that prohibits subway tunneling in an area of Los Angeles that I represent.

I authored the 1985 measure after a methane gas explosion demolished a Ross Dress for Less store in the Third and Fairfax area of Los Angeles.

At the time, serious safety concerns were raised about the city's plans to extend the subway through 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 this 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. 4653 simply lifts the Federal tunneling prohibition that has been in place since 1985. The Transportation Infrastructure Committee reported this bill unanimously on July 19, and I urge my colleagues to support it as well.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have up to 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 2832, H.R. 4653 and H.R. 3858.