Environmental assessment is a decision-making process used to promote good environmental planning by assessing the potential effects and benefits of certain activities on the environment. It is a procedure that ensures that the environmental implications of decisions are taken into account before the decisions are made. The process involves an analysis of the likely effects on the environment, recording those effects in a report, undertaking a public consultation exercise on the report, taking into account the comments and the report when making the final decision and informing the public about that decision afterwards.

Environmental catalyst is a substance that initiates a chemical reaction and enables it to proceed under different conditions (as at a lower temperature or faster rate) than otherwise possible. The catalyst itself is not consumed, but continues to perform its function in subsequent reactions. This catalyst is used to initiate the breakdown of pollutants into their harmless elements, as when catalytic converters turn hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides coming from cars into carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor.