The Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act (NEPDA)

Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act

• Revised in 2012
• Approved by the Ontario Legislature in June 1973  
• Legal basis for Commission operations and Niagara Escarpment Plan  
• Inaugural meeting held on November 6, 1973  
• Commission directed to prepare Niagara Escarpment Plan  
• Plan approved by Cabinet in June of 1985, June of 1994 and June of 2005.  

Purpose of the Act:

• "To provide for the maintenance of the Niagara Escarpment and land in its vicinity substantially as a continuous natural environment and to ensure only such development occurs as is compatible with that natural environment" (Section 2)  

Provisions of the Act:

• Appointment of members and staff  
• Objectives for the Niagara Escarpment Plan  
• Procedures for Plan preparation, Plan reviews, hearings, amendments and conformity  
• Regulations for establishing development permit requirements and exemptions  
• Procedures for development control appeals, hearings and contraventions