In hopes of expediting the distribution of $100 million in flood hazard mitigation funding, the governor’s office announced on Wednesday that it is simplifying the application process for municipalities affected by last summer’s catastrophic flooding to receive state assistance.
The state has tallied more than $1 billion in total damages sustained statewide from the summer floods. With two federal major disaster declarations approved by the White House (and another requested), the feds have funneled millions in recovery dollars from Washington to help Vermont rebuild and brace itself for its next natural disaster.
The state’s $100 million Hazard Mitigation Program is meant to supplement those federal dollars and finance projects that would hopefully lessen the blow of future floods in Vermont. That could include buying out flood-prone homes, elevating and improving roads and bridges, redesigning flood plains, and more.
According to a press release issued by his office, Republican Gov. Phil Scott wants that state money distributed faster. He has directed Vermont Emergency Management to simplify the application process for municipalities seeking aid from the state’s $100 million pot and to provide more technical assistance to municipalities that may not have the time and staff to navigate the application process.
“With fewer than 1 million residents, the State of Vermont does not have the resources or staff that our larger neighbors do,” Vermont’s Chief Recovery Officer Doug Farnham said in the release. “In order to maximize the resources that we do have, and to make the process as simple as possible for local communities, we have eliminated as much unnecessary bureaucracy as possible.”
Historically, municipalities applied directly to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for federal hazard mitigation dollars, Farnham said in an interview. Instead, he said, the Scott administration is facilitating the application process through the state, in hopes of easing the bureaucratic burden on small governments.
The state also has a contract with management consulting company GuideHouse to help “augment” the state’s existing hazard mitigation office.
The state is also helping to cover typical municipal match dollars. While municipalities’ match obligations are proportionally small in order to leverage a large share of federal dollars, the local obligation can easily balloon in the thousands or even millions of dollars — a heavy burden for a small town.
As damaging as last summer’s storms were, Wednesday’s press release noted that some worst-case scenarios were avoided thanks to similar mitigation projects completed in years following Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
“With the realization that the state could face this level of damage every 10 years” due to climate change, the press release said, “building back better is no longer an option, it is a must.”
“We know that weather events like we experienced are becoming more common and more severe,” Scott said in the release. “It’s critical we focus on building back smarter and more resilient.”
Municipalities can apply for state mitigation dollars to help fund community mitigation projects at vem.vermont.gov/funding/mitigation ahead of the state’s deadline of June 21. Property owners seeking assistance to elevate or buy out their homes should discuss their options with their municipal offices before a priority deadline of March 29, according to the release.
Vermonters can email dps.hazardmitigation@vermont.gov if they have further questions.
