Terms Used in the EIA Process

Cumulative Effect - An environmental effect resulting from the activities of several projects or activities, rather than from a single activity.

Impact Analysis - The portion of an EIA that presents and discusses predicted impacts of a project.

Law List Regulations- These regulations identify those federal statutory and regulatory approvals that will trigger an environmental assessment (CEAA 2008).

Local Study Area - The geographic area where direct effects of a specific project under review may occur.

Mitigation - Activities to avoid, prevent, reduce, or minimize predicted negative impacts of a project.

Project Description - A description of the proposed project, provided by the Proponent, that includes technical details of the siting, operation.

Proponent - The entity proposing the development (for example, an oil company).

Regional Study Area - The geographic area larger than the local study area, where effects of a specific project may contribute indirectly to cumulative effects of multiple projects or other human activities.

Residual Effects - Predicted effects of a project on the environment after proposed mitigation measures have been adopted; in other words, the predicted actual effects of the project.

Review Team - The team of government review agencies and individuals responsible for technical review of the contents of the EIA.

Supplemental Information Requests (SIR) - Requests by the technical Review Team for further details or clarification of technical materials in the EIA; provided after initial review of the EIA by the review team.

Terms of Reference - A document prepared and finalized before the impact analysis, which outlines the government's technical expectations and requirements of a specific EIA.