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SOME POINTS ON OPPOSING SENATE BILL 917 SECTION 1. Section 3 of chapter 22, as so appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in the title, after the word “Commissioner” the words “division of inspection.” SECTION 2. Section 3 of chapter 22, as so appearing, is hereby amended, in lines 2-4, by striking out the words “There shall be in the department a division of inspection as established by section four A, under the charge of a director to be known as the chief of inspections” CHAPTER 22. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY Chapter 22: Section 3. Commissioner; Section 3. The commissioner shall be the executive and administrative head of the department. SECTION 3. Section 4A of chapter 22 of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in the title, after the words “22.4A” the words “Division of inspection; chief of inspections.” SECTION 4. Section 4A of chapter 22, as so appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended, in lines 1-7, by striking out the words “There shall be within the department a division to be known as the division of inspection. The commissioner shall appoint a chief of inspections, who shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one, who may be removed for cause, and the position of chief of inspections shall be classified in accordance with section forty-five of chapter thirty and the salary shall be determined in accordance with section forty-six C of said chapter thirty.” SECTION 5. Section 4A of chapter 22 of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended, in lines 9, by striking out the words “division of inspection” and inserting in place thereof the following words:-department of public safety. Chapter 22: 4A as currently in Statute as follows: Chapter 22: Section 4A. Division of inspection; chief of inspections; qualifications of inspectors; districts; enforcement of state building code; review by commissioner Section 4A. There shall be within the department a division to be known as the division of inspection. The commissioner shall appoint a chief of inspections, who shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one, who may be removed for cause, and the position of chief of inspections shall be classified in accordance with section forty-five of chapter thirty and the salary shall be determined in accordance with section forty-six C of said chapter thirty. The commissioner shall establish the requirements and qualifications for inspectors who are employed by the division of inspection and appointed pursuant to section six and shall have administrative responsibility over such inspectors. New wording after changes: Chapter 22: Section 4A. Section 4A. POINT 1.) These changes are tantamount to removing the rudder and compass from the ship. The Commissioner is a short term (4 year, co-terminus with the governor) political appointee that may in the future have absolutely no qualifications in the trades that he/she oversees, yet will have all the power to interpret our public safety laws in conformity with political and industrial pressures. POINT 2.) The Board of Boiler Rules is traditionally chaired by the CHIEF. If it is not the chief, then who is going to fill this very important role? We can only assume that it will be headed by the Commissioner himself or his designee? This bill is a thinly veiled grab for power and the Board of Boiler Rules could be its first casualty.
POINT 3.) The Chief of Inspections position was set up over 100 years ago to be as non-politically motivated as possible. They wrote the phrase “WHO MAY BE REMOVED FOR CAUSE” into statute for this very reason. The Chief is not to be a pawn in the political arena begging for his job every 4 years. POINT 4.) Passing SB.917 would be an outright subversion of our longstanding public safety laws and will devastate power generation in the Commonwealth, because we will have laws subjected to endless exemptions and wavers regardless of time tested safe operating practices and laws which back them up.
POINT 5.) SB.917 SECTION 6 removes the Deputy Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioner’s office has gone unfilled for at least 8 years and counting. This is in flagrant violation of M. G. L. Chapter 22: Section 5 and Senate Bill 917 seeks to do away with the position altogether. SB.917 SECTION 6. Section 5 of chapter 22 of the General Laws, appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby repealed. CHAPTER 22. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
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