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 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.

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).

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

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Banking Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 238 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a Dodd- Shelby amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.