An Initial Study is a preliminary analysis prepared by the lead agency to determine whether the project may cause a significant environmental impact and weather an environmental impact report (EIR) or negative declaration (ND) must be prepared.
An Initial Study facilitates environmental review early in the design of a project, enables mitigating adverse impacts, and provides a basis for determining what type of environmental document to prepare. A Mitigated Negative Declaration is a finding that a lead agency makes when the initial study shows that the impacts of a project can be reduced to less than significant with mitigation.