Regional planner urges stronger rural resilience, technical assistance in Vermont Climate Action Plan update

CHITTENDEN COUNTY — Chris Camp, executive director of the Windham Regional Commission, told the Vermont House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure on March 26 that the ongoing update to the Vermont Climate Action Plan must move beyond high‑level strategy and fund the technical help towns need to act.

Camp, who represents municipal interests on the Vermont Climate Council, said rural towns face unique barriers to implementing resilience and adaptation measures and that regional planning commissions (RPCs) are already doing heavy “hand‑holding” to move projects from idea to construction. “It could take a town 10 years to decide to have a conversation,” Camp said, describing how routine local deliberations can stretch into months of meetings before any action begins.

The committee heard that the Global Warming Solutions Act directs the Climate Council to set quantifiable greenhouse‑gas reductions but only asks it to provide advisory strategies for adaptation. Camp said that creates a gap in accountability and funding for physical resilience work — the engineering, design, and project management needed to protect homes, roads and wastewater infrastructure.

Camp summarized tools and programs now in development or use: a municipal vulnerability indicators tool that brings mapping and hazard data into a single place; a planned online climate toolkit that would list funding sources and guidance; and a resilience implementation strategy led jointly by the treasurer and governor’s office. He said those tools are useful but insufficient without more on‑the‑ground technical assistance: “It’s not just talking about it. How do we actually move forward toward action?”

Why it matters

Camp told lawmakers that Vermont’s recent disaster record underlines the urgency. He cited 13 federally declared disasters in the state since 2019, roughly 233 buyout requests submitted to FEMA under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, and dozens of additional properties seeking assistance. He warned that federal policy conversations — including proposals to raise the threshold for public assistance and to change cost‑share formulas — could reduce federal aid to states…