House committee hears update on Vermont Climate Action Plan, outreach and rulemaking timeline

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee on March 19 that the state is updating its Climate Action Plan and will present a revised plan by the statutory July 1 deadline.

Secretary of Natural Resources Julie Moore described the Climate Action Office as a hub for technical analysis, community engagement and interagency coordination that supports the Vermont Climate Council and the state’s obligations under the Global Warming Solutions Act. “We have a staff of 7, in that space when fully staffed. We do have 2 vacancies currently that are in recruitment,” Moore said, summarizing the office’s teams and workstreams.

The office’s work includes greenhouse-gas modeling, rulemaking, resilience and adaptation planning, and contracted programs to support refrigerant management and local energy navigators. Moore said the agency maintains and updates a baseline business-as-usual model, uses scenario planning to test policies, and is developing a “measuring and assessing progress” tool of indicators that will go beyond the greenhouse-gas inventory to track adaptation and resilience outcomes.

Jane Lazorczak, director of the Climate Action Office, told the committee the office and the Climate Council have focused the update on a smaller set of high-priority recommendations. “We have a subset of around 40 to 50 high priority recommendations, that are being contemplated right now by the council and will be, brought to the public in April,” Lazorczak said. She described the Climate Council’s structure — five subcommittees and a steering committee — and said the council has relied on a combination of modeling, sector committees, and a just-transitions frame to evaluate proposals.

Committee members pressed the agency about community outreach in rural and southern Vermont. Representative Emilie Sebelia said the list of in-person meetings appeared heavy in population centers and urged broader outreach to isolated mountain towns. Lazorczak acknowledged limits to capacity and said the office has contracted with regional planning commissions to stand up eight community sessions; she confirmed seven were scheduled at the time of the briefing and said staff would review adding locations. “We are doing our best, to get out to as much of the state as possible,” Moore said.

Staff described several technical studies that have informed policy options since the initial 2021 plan. Moore and Lazorczak cited a building thermal decarbonization study that compared a clean heat standard to alternatives such as a carbon tax or direct regulation, and a recent assessment of a transportation cap‑and‑invest approach that ANR completed with the treasurer’s office. Moore said the cap‑and‑invest assessment was handed to the treasurer “who was then tasked with making recommendations to the legislature about what program to join, or not join.”

The agency also reviewed its obligations under the Global Warming Solutions Act on rulemaking. Moore said the statute requires ANR to adopt rules consistent with the Climate Action Plan within one year of the plan’s adoption and to conduct robust engagement for rules. She noted the first suite of rules the agency has moved on are four mobile-source rules that align with California standards, including Advanced Clean Cars and Advanced Clean Trucks. “Advanced Clean Cars 2 … is not an obligation to buy a clean vehicle,” Moore said, clarifying the rule requires a rising share of new vehicles delivered to Vermont to be zero‑emission models rather than banning combustion engines.

Committee members asked about costs and contracts used to support the Climate Council and plan update. Lazorczak said the office maintains an annual facilitation and engagement contract of about $200,000 and has a multi‑year modeling contract for the LEAP model; the agency also secured six user licenses for modeling access and several regional technical assistance grants. A staff member said Lisonbee (modeling) licenses cost about $10,000 and run for four years, with some hosted across ANR and partner agencies.

Lazorczak noted the Climate Action Plan update began in January 2024, involves about 45 additional subcommittee members beyond 23 named climate counselors, and will be difficult to finish by July 1 without continuing contracted support. “It will be hard to finish it by 07/01/2025,” she said, citing the volume of recommendations carried forward from the initial plan and the desire to prioritize a manageable set of implementation actions.

The briefing also highlighted ongoing work on a Resilience Implementation Strategy and on programs to sustain energy navigator positions that previously were funded with federal dollars. Moore said the agency plans a stakeholder meeting at the end of the month and offered to present the status report to the House committee as well.

The committee did not take formal action during the briefing. Members asked the agency to return with further detail on outreach scheduling, modeling costs and the Measuring and Assessing Progress tool.

The agency committed to share the April public engagement schedule and to the committee’s offer of assistance coordinating events in hard‑to‑reach parts of the state. The Climate Action Office said it will present the Climate Council’s prioritized recommendations for public comment in April ahead of the July 1 plan deadline.