SCORE FOR SOUTHLAND PROJECTS HOUSE OKS FUNDS FOR MANY LOCAL ITEMS IN $137.6 BILLION SPENDING BILL.

Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - The House approved $4 million Friday to begin transporting President Richard Nixon's White House records from Washington, D.C., to their new home in Yorba Linda.

The money was part of a $137.6 billion federal spending bill that will fund everything from transportation to performing arts programs. It passed 492-31 and an identical version is expected to pass the Senate.

The Southland scored some big-ticket items in the bill, including $4.2 million to alleviate freight rail congestion; $500,000 to make safety improvements to the Metrolink commuter line; and $500,000 for low-emission shuttle buses at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.

Smaller community programs also got funding, including $200,000 to the Valley Alliance of the Arts for a performance venue.

The funding for the Nixon project will be used to ship 46 million pages of records to California, as well as help build a 10,000-square-foot National Archives facility in Yorba Linda.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, who obtained the Metrolink funding, also demanded the Federal Railroad Administration study safety practices that were called into question after a January commuter train crash in Glendale that killed 11.

The new safety measures will include median separators and locked gates to limit vehicle access to the rails.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, called the hybrid shuttle buses at Burbank Airport ``one more step toward keeping California on the cutting edge of the drive to cut air pollution.''

He also obtained $200,000 to relieve congestion at Burbank and Sepulveda boulevards; and the money for the Valley Alliance of the Arts, which aims to build an 1,800-seat concert hall.

In the Santa Clarita Valley, Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, a Republican, secured $1 million for the Cross Valley Connector, linking I-5 and state Route 14; $545,000 to widen Rancho Vista Boulevard; $250,000 to help Lancaster build a youth baseball center; $150,000 to expand the Mammoth Lakes Library; and $100,000 for the Antelope Valley Boys and Girls Club.

Lisa Friedman, [phone]

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com