Environmental assessment
Environmental assessment means a concise public document, for which a Federal agency is responsible, for an action that is not likely to have a significant effect or for which the significance of the effects is unknown ( 1501.5 of this subchapter), that is used to support an agency's determination of whether to prepare an environmental impact statement (part 1502 of this subchapter) or a finding of no significant impact ( 1501.6 of this subchapter).
Source
40 CFR § 1508.1
Scoping language
The following definitions apply to the regulations in this subchapter. Federal agencies shall use these terms uniformly throughout the Federal Government.