MONTPELIER, Vt. — Federal officials have approved Vermont’s updated hazard mitigation plan, making the state eligible to receive more federal grants to prepare for the next big storm or man-made disaster by installing bigger culverts, discouraging new development in flood-prone areas and taking other preventative actions.

In addition, Vermont communities that adopt their own hazard mitigation plans will be in line for larger amounts of state assistance in the event of a future federally declared disaster, said Vermont Hazard Mitigation Officer Ray Doherty.

“We are trying to encourage the pre-disaster behavior at the local level that will actually save the state money in the long term,” Doherty said.

Doherty said there are some specific steps communities can take, such as adopting higher road and bridge standards to make them resistant to floods, adopting flood hazard bylaws in known flood-prone areas and having local mitigation plans, a prerequisite to get Federal Emergency Management Agency mitigation funds.

Vermont Emergency Management is going to post its hazard mitigation plan online sometime next week. But the executive summary says that climate change “will affect the severity and frequency of natural hazards” and the plan is needed to ensure the state is prepared.

The plan approved by FEMA was designed to help communities develop plans and ensure that public agencies work well with private organizations.

Since Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont two years ago, the state applied for about $30 million in FEMA hazard mitigation grants. Probably the most well-known use of that money was to buy homes that were destroyed or damaged by the flood and considered to be at risk of damage in future floods.