Glossary of Terms

Environmental and scientific policy work come with a lot of strange acronyms. We call this “alphabet soup.” If you’re confused by all the terms you’ve seen, this guide should help you sort through the intricacies of agency/mining/conservation speak.

In a hurry? Glance through the most common terms below.

Have time? Check out our full glossary of terms (PDF).

Agency/Government/Policy Terms:

EC: Extraordinary Circumstances

CE: Categorial Exclusion

EIS: Environmental Impact Statement — A document outlining the environmental effects of the project on the environment, prepared by the proponent of a project and presented to decision makers and the public.

EA: Environmental Assessment — An assessment of the impacts caused by a development activity such as mining, logging, or grazing.

PEA: Preliminary Economic Assessment

EPA: Environmental Protection Act

NEPA: National Environmental Protection Act

ES: Endangered Species

ESA: Endangered Species Act

FOIA: Freedom of Information Act

SOPA: Schedule of Proposed Actions

VRP: Voluntary Remediation Program

FONSI: Finding of No Significant Impact

NOI: Notice of Intent

ROD: Record of Decision

TESS: Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Species

POO: Plan of Operation

RFP: Request for Proposal

WOTUS: Waters of the United States

CERCLA: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (known also as a Superfund, passed in 1980)

Exceedences: Instances where federally identified air pollutants exceed the air quality federal standard

Mining Terms:

TSF: Tailings Storage Facility

HAZMAT: Hazardous Materials

Adit: A horizontal passage that extends from the ground surface into a mine site. Most adits only have one entrance.

Mineral Rights: Ownership rights to the minerals located on or below a piece of property.

Tailings: Material (often a blend of ore waste, rock, soil, and heavy metals) that has been processed by a mining company and discarded.