State aims to release resilience implementation strategy July 1; MAP tool funded with $775,000 to track progress

Agency of Natural Resources leaders told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee that a resilience implementation strategy will accompany Vermont’s updated Climate Action Plan and that the state is building a web‑based MAP (Measuring and Assessing Progress) tool to track mitigation and resilience metrics.

Secretary Julie Moore said the resilience implementation strategy is focused on state government actions and will be available with the Climate Action Plan update on July 1; the agency has identified approximately 300 state programs that intersect with landscape‑level resilience. The strategy will prioritize those programs, identify gaps and work with the treasurer’s office to explore funding options; Moore said budgetary costings may follow into the fall if more time is needed.

The nut graf: Officials said resilience work differs from mitigation in program design and funding patterns; resilience funding is frequently event‑driven (FEMA disaster declarations and hazard mitigation grants), and the MAP tool is intended to provide metrics and evidence of progress across both mitigation and adaptation.

Hazard mitigation and disaster funding

Moore told legislators that Vermont receives a relatively modest annual allotment of FEMA hazard mitigation grants in routine years — "about $2 to $3,000,000 worth of hazard mitigation grants" — but that following the 2023 floods the state anticipated roughly $20,000,000 in hazard mitigation funding. Committee members asked whether those federal streams were likely to continue; officials said federal funding availability is uncertain and that Vermont cannot fully plan around a predictable federal commitment.

MAP tool funding and timing

Jane (MAP project lead) told the committee the MAP tool’s phase 1 contract cost $350,000 and was due for completion May 15; the agency holds roughly $425,000 carried forward to build the tool’s infrastructure. "So, $775,000 in total is the funding we've had to put towards the development of the tool," Jane said, and she said the tool is expected to be online by the end of the next fiscal year. Moore added that the MAP tool will include resilience and adaptation metrics as well as greenhouse‑gas accounting and public‑engagement measures.

Federal uncertainty and planning

Committee members pressed the administration about planning for disaster response if federal assistance is unavailable or limited. Moore directed the committee to Vermont Emergency Management and Department of Public Safety officials (Commissioner Morrison and Director Forreind of VEM) as the appropriate contacts for federal‑assistance contingency planning. Moore and staff said the resilience strategy and the updated spending spreadsheets will highlight programs that rely heavily on federal funding and therefore are most vulnerable.

Ending

Officials said the resilience implementation strategy and MAP tool are intended to make progress and funding needs more visible, and that the resilience work will be iterated following public input and treasurer’s office cost analyses. The committee requested the updated Climate Spending Report and signaled interest in seeing the MAP tool metrics when available.