In an interview, state Sen. Michael Barrett, co-chair of the joint committee, said, “So far as we can tell, the transportation oversight division of the state DPU has 11 authorized positions. Only nine are filled at present. But this division has to cover a lot of ground.”
He said DPU already has a challenging task at hand dealing with the climate crisis and a potential move away from natural gas.
“You’ve got the possibility that the overarching climate crisis will crowd out safety monitoring” at the T, Barrett said. “But you’ve also got the equal possibility that a fire drill around a safety emergency will cause the DPU to backburner the climate issue.”
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