A new tool to assist port authorities in identifying aspects and in assessing their significance (TEAP) has been developed. The present research demonstrates that although there is a high percentage of European ports that have already identified their Significant Environmental Aspects (SEA), most of these ports do not use any standardized method. This suggests that some of the procedures used may not necessarily be science-based, systematic in approach or appropriate for the purpose of implementing effective environmental management. For the port sector as a whole, where the free-exchange of environmental information and experience is an established policy of the European Sea Ports Organization's (ESPO) and the EcoPorts Network, developing a tool to assist ports in identifying SEAs can be very useful. This method has been developed in the framework of the PERSEUS research project, after analysing the strengths, weaknesses and challenges of the existing techniques, the recommendations from the Environmental Management System (EMS) standards and the advice of specialists. This is a computer-based tool (www.eports.cat) that provides a quick calculation and result, and it is designed to be as user-friendly as possible in order to facilitate its completion by the user (i.e. port environmental manager). This methodology comprises two main steps, firstly the identification of the major environmental aspects that may be generated in a port, and secondly, assessing their significance. This tool can be applied to any type of port but it provides specific results for each one. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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