Nova Scotia’s environment minister says the provincial government will not put into force legislation passed in 2019 to protect the province’s coastline.

Tim Halman says the province will instead shift much of the responsibility for coastal protection to individual property owners and municipalities.

The plan to replace the Coastal Protection Act offers access to an online hazard map that shows the worst case scenario for sea level rise along the coast in the year 2100.

Halman says the province has also created a four-person navigator service to help property owners understand the hazard map.

As well, municipalities will be given examples of content they can use to enact coastal land use bylaws.

The province also says it will re-evaluate the existing $200,000 cap on disaster relief funding in order to discourage development on coastal land at risk of flooding and erosion.

2:00Ecology group says Nova Scotia coastal protection legislation needs to be proclaimed

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2024.