US Rep. Mike Capuano reports the Federal Transit Administration has given tentative OK to the state's plans for cheaper stations and other reductions along the proposed Green Line extension from Lechmere into Somerville and Medford - but with a caveat that has to be addressed by year's end, or $1 billion in federal money could disappear and get spent in some other state:

The FTA has directed the MBTA to hire a team of qualified professional project managers and engineers to oversee the GLX BEFORE the FTA undertakes the last and most important step in their process - the risk analysis. When the project started, there were just two MBTA employees assigned a full-time oversight role. The FTA and the MBTA both agree that was insufficient. The MBTA has done some initial outreach to hire some qualified professionals but has not done so yet.

H/t Chris Devers.