The purpose of the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Carbon Reduction Program is to reduce transportation emissions through the development of statewide carbon reduction strategies and by funding projects designed to reduce emissions.
The work consists of two phases.
Phase 1: Estimate GHG emissions and reductions associated with VTrans’ Capital Program
- Develop a methodology to confidently estimate the effect on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the investments in the Agency of Transportation Capital Program such that the AOT can, in coordination with the Agency of Natural Resources Climate Office, track and report progress towards achieving the State’s greenhouse reduction goals.
Phase 2: Develop Carbon Reduction Strategy
- Assess potential future policy, program, and funding options to cost-effectively reduce GHG emissions from Vermont’s transportation sector.
- Engage stakeholders and the public.
Develop an investment strategy to reduce transportation emissions consistent with the Federal Carbon Reduction Program Guidance and the State’s Global Warming Solutions Act requirements.
Public, Stakeholder and Committee Engagement
An Advisory Committee has been convened to guide the public outreach and strategy development, and a Technical Committee has been convened to guide the technical analysis. Additionally, the project team will be seeking input on policy, program, and funding options and the investment strategy.
Outreach will include virtual public meetings as well as a series of focus groups with specific stakeholders, including business, freight, environmental, community, and equity-focused interests. The public and stakeholder outreach for the project will be conducted in two phases. The first phase, held in spring 2023, will focus on policy and programmatic strategies for GHG emissions reduction as the scenarios are developed. Once this analysis has been conducted and a draft Investment Strategy is prepared, the public will be engaged through a second round of meetings. For comments or to provide input on the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Carbon Reduction Strategy, please fill out the form below.
Project Status
June 2023
- The first round of public outreach, including focus groups with stakeholders and two virtual public meetings, was completed in March/April.
- The project team has evaluated the gap between projected transportation GHG emissions and the state’s GHG reduction targets for 2030 and 2050.
- The project team has developed and modeled scenarios of strategies (programmatic investments and policies) to close the gap.
- Initial findings and a draft Carbon Reduction Strategy will be provided for a second round of public and stakeholder feedback, anticipated for July.
August 2023
- The second round of public outreach, including stakeholder focus groups, two virtual public meetings, and an online survey (which garnered over 600 responses), concluded at the end of the first week of August.
- The Recommendations were drafted and can be viewed within the August public meeting presentation.
- Following the conclusion of the second phase of public outreach, the team is developing the Carbon Reduction Strategy.
Next Steps
- A draft Carbon Reduction Strategy will be provided to the Technical and Advisory Committees for review during September.
- The Strategy will be finalized in October.
- It will be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) by November 15 2023.
