The toolkit guides municipalities through the process of creating a climate change-related vulnerability assessment and developing local climate resilience strategies, as required by changes to New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law signed into law in February 2021. It is also designed to guide communities through implementing a robust public engagement process that sets a clear vision for each community and stresses the importance of assessing the needs and integrating the voices of socially vulnerable populations to ensure that the resilience measures identified are equitable in their consideration and impact.

The intended outcome is the creation of local strategies with specific resilience actions tailored to each community’s needs, such as enhanced building and construction standards; retrofitting, elevating, or replacing existing structures and infrastructure; and construction of more resilient structures and infrastructure.

According to the New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law, vulnerability assessments must rely on the most recent natural hazard projections and best available science provided by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. They must also consider environmental effects associated with climate change, including temperature, drought, and sea level rise, and contain measures to mitigate reasonably anticipated natural hazards such as coastal storms, shoreline erosion, flooding, storm surge, and wind.

Communities that utilize the toolkit can meet their obligations for the Municipal Land Use Law requirements and climate resilience-related Plan Endorsement requirements adopted by the State Planning Commission in October 2020.  However, all municipalities across the state can make use of the Resilient NJ program to advance their understanding of climate change and how to enhance their resilience.