Analysis of Most Important Indices in Environmental Impacts Assessment of Ports

Ports are the main centers of economic activities and producers of environmental pollutions on the shores and urban areas. Regarding the growth of world trade, transportation of goods through the ports has been undergoing prompt development, possibly experiencing further progress in the upcoming years. In the recent years, the destructive impacts of ports on the environment has been increasing. The type of activities and interactions carried out in the ports have speeded up such destructions. The major sources of pollutions are usually air, noise, water, soil and garbage. The objective of this study is to identify the main and sub-indices in the assessment of environmental impacts of ports (EIAP). To this end, a number of 28 case studies over the world have been analyzed. The indices of the environmental impacts of ports are categorized and evaluated according to four scales: the application and study aspects, the time, the location, as well as the quantity of occurrence of the criteria. Totally 200 main and sub-indices have been identified, within which, the first 10 have been allocated to the pollution of air, noise, water, transportation, traffic, greenhouse gases, garbage, soil, climate change and dredging, since 2000 to 2016. Finally, to better understand the subject, the conceptual framework for EIAP is presented. This study provides with port managers guidance toward identifying significant environmental aspects of ports; it is, at the same time, applicable in order for awareness and prioritization in the environmental management.


Introduction
Instant progress of sea transportation has left significant impacts on the growth and development of international trade [1], as nearly 90% of the world trade is managed via sea transportation [2,3].Coastline development as well as direct and indirect job creation have been some of the favored consequences of the development of sea transport infrastructures [5].For instance, in 2014 goods transportation through sea has experienced a 3.4% growth over the world [4].Moreover, Asia has been remarkably expanding its role in import and export through the sea [7].Likewise, almost half of the American population are working inside the 500-meter vicinity of coastline [10].Nearly 13 million jobs per year have been provided related to the transport industry of the U.S port users, leading to a 1.5 million dollars annual profit [1].Thus, ports play a vital role in the economy of a country.The expanded industrial activities for meeting humanitarian demands as well as accommodation of a vast portion of human population inside the coastal ecosystems -as nearly 44% of the world population are living inside the 150 km vicinity of coasts and 66% of the urban population (2.5 million people) are living in the coastal regions-show the high significance of this ecosystem [2].
Industrial revolution has ended in the expansion of human activities, deteriorating environment and human conditions.While the ports play role in the production of jobs in a region, proportionally they play a considerable role in the pollution growth and entering various types of pollutants to the environment [1].Port activities release several destructive effects [3,5,8], such as air, water, noise, soil and sediments pollution as well as dredging [2][3][4][5][6].Activities such as fishing, industrial facilities, storage of hazardous material, etc. could release harmful impacts on the environment [6].Control of such damaging impacts is the main purpose of environmental management system [3].Despite the great progress in the rail transport which had a great effort in the prevention and control of pollution, the environmental effects of the ports have been increased [1].Any type of growth and development of the port facilities affect of the habitats [6].If a port is located inside or in the vicinity of an urban area, then the destructive effects will be greater [11].Ports are the main sources of air pollution, affecting the human health of the vicinity population.The major air pollutants include diesel exhaust, particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOC), nitrogen oxide (NOx), etc [1].Based on the report of environmental protection agency (EPA), it is anticipated that the contribution of vessels in the spread of PM and NOx being doubled until 2020 [1].Increment of the population of coastal areas has led to the spread of plenty of pollutants to the water, affecting the coastal ecosystem.This indicates the sever exploitation of coastal sources by human, causing one of the greatest environmental threats on the earth.Some sources of the threats are namely sediment accumulation, toxic material (pesticides and pollutants), acidification and sludge formation due to human activities [10].
Over time, knowledge has been growing on the environmental aspects [9].Considering the environmental concerns, the Ports and Maritime Organization for the first time, published the code ESPO in the 1994 which was updated then, in 2003 [5].Environmental indices could be powerful and proper tools for upgrading public awareness about the environmental issues.The importance of various environmental issues depend on the characteristics of each port [6,11,12].Regarding the current conditions of the national ports, estimation of the environmental impacts is a difficult task [4].Some of the key environmental aspects and/or indices of the ports are the emission of greenhouse gasses to the air, discharge to the water, soil, sediment and noise pollution, production of redundant material, dredging, destruction and losing earth habitats, variation of the marine ecosystem, odor, consumption of resources, and port development [2,6].Evaluation of the environmental impacts of all of the megaprojects such as construction of ports and development of them are necessary; also the sustainable development of port activities is achievable only through such action [2].Climate forecast reduces the destructive effects on cost, water resources, ecosystem and the other resources.The northern coasts of Iran (Caspian Sea) is favored from a moderate and pleasant climate.Across the southern coasts, there is environmental concern for the oil and gas industry and heavy traffic of the tankers.In order to reduce the air pollution and global warming, Iran is trying to produce lower volumes of fossil fuels.Significant reduction of greenhouse gasses emission is essential since they have some of the worst consequences on the climate change [13].
Numerous investigations have been carried out so far on the environmental Impacts assessment (EIAP).In study, by analysing previous studies two major goals are followed.Firstly, identifying and evaluation of the main and sub-indices determining the ports environmental effects.Four criteria have been used to analyze the indicators, namely 1-time criterion, 2-locative criterion, 3-the study aspects and mathematical methods introduced in the investigations, and 4the Frequency of occurrence of index.Finally, for better understanding and application of users and managers in the environmental management sectors, the second goal i.e. the conceptual framework for assessment of the EIAP is introduced.

Literature Review
In the assessment of previous studies on the EIAP, it is necessary to use tools capable of measuring the extent of variations, the Frequency of using indices as well as any other kind of analysis.Thus, in this study primarily some tools were employed as analysis scales.These scales include the aspects of the study, the application of method, the time analysis, and the locative analysis [14].In order to use these tools and analysing indices, initially, 28 case studies were reviewed and are presented Table 1.The studies are categorized based on the date, as well as main indices, sub-indices, the aspects of study and the application.

Environmental Assessment of Ports in Iran
Ports in Iran are strategic places which have got important roles in oil export, public trade and country's income.Construction and operation of ports in coastal areas will cause a group of proper and inverse impacts on physiochemical, biological and social-economical environments.Mitigation and management of these impacts are only possible by considering environmental consideration in design, construction and operational phases through environmental impact assessment studies.Preparing of ports' EIA reports which is a must on the basis of Iran legislation, needs a standard pattern consists of all related resources and parameters.The environmental performance of Iranian ports could be evaluated by three group of indices:  Management indices: such as the contribution of environmental budget out of the total budget; the contribution of environmental educations out of the total port educations, etc.
 Operational indices: such as the discharge values of wastewater, stacks, etc. in comparison with the emission standards  Condition indices: such as the environmental weather quality, the environmental water, quality, etc.
The environmental performance indices of Iranian ports are presented in Table 2. Iranian port managers, according to the meetings with the environmental experts, have compiled plans including: 5-Assessment of the integrated management plans or environmental management of ports, and compilation of management plans for the ports without such plan.
6-Compilation of plans for monitoring ports and piers in order to evaluate the degree of execution of plans.
Within the environmental agreement signed up with port of Antwerp, Belgium (of high level through the world and the 2 nd in Europe), integration of the environmental indicators of Iranian ports is considered; in which Shahid Rajaee Port has been the sample and pioneer of the other ports in the country.The port of Entrop is equipped with railways in order for prevention of air pollution.In addition, the method of storage of goods in it is the way to minimize the pollution; for instance, transportation of bulk sulfur is forbidden.

Result and Discussion
As discussed in prior sections, toward the first goal of the study, i.e. identifying the indices, former literatures were reviewed and analyzed based on four scales.These scales are namely: the study aspects, application, time analysis and locative analysis which are described separately in detail in the following.

The Application and Study Aspects
The type of application and aspects of the study are first scale which providing certain classification through the literature review.The type of application is a scale which categorizes the literatures in quantitative and qualitative groups.For this scale, the methods which are accompanied by numbers and digits and quantity -a quantitative investigation describing the characteristics and indices of a port evaluation study -is accounted as an appropriate qualitative study.The second part of this scale is the aspects of the study including two aspects, the human and/or the environment.It is absolutely clear that the studies that are focusing on two aspects of human and environmental health are the results of a precise investigation.In such investigations the indices to evaluate the EIAP, include plenty of human and environmentally risky exposures.In this regard, the results of classifying the investigations over the world using the two named scales are presented in Table 3.According to the classification presented in Table 3, for the application type criteria, most efforts have been allocated to the quantitative and qualitative (85.7%) studies, indicating the importance of both quantitative and qualitative levels in the investigations on the EIAP.For the aspects of study part, also nearly 60% of the studies have been allocated to the environmental indices and the other have focused on both the human and environment aspects.It is worth mentioning that none of the studies have been allocated solely to the indices relevant to the human health.

Time Analysis
Time is an important scale in identifying the useful and effective indices in the EIAP.To investigate the variations of utilizing indices, literatures are categorized into four time periods and presented in Table 4.According to the literatures in each of the 4 time periods, the most important indices to evaluate the environmental impacts of ports were identified, and 20 superior and useful indices were extracted.The priority of these indices vary in different time periods.This variation might imply the variation of aspects which are associated to the port permanent difficulties in terms of environment and sustainable development.Air quality is known as the first priority of the environment, and this shows the significance of this parameter as it is directly associated to the wellness of workman and life around the port.Noise management is of high priority.The sound produced by ship engines and other machinery are the potential sources of noise in the port.The noise might be suffering for the wildlife and the people who are living and working in the vicinity [31].Waste management is also another high priority and concerning environmental issue.Some indices such as ship movements, port development, tourism, climate parameters and … are also some of the lower priority indices within the investigated time periods.

Locative Analysis
The indices employed in the prior literatures on the EIAP in three continents of America, Asia and Europe, cloud be analyzed by the locative criterion.Regarding the differences in the geographic, social and economic situation of the three objective continents, a novel prioritization of indicators is carried out to evaluate the environmental impacts of ports.Keeping this in mind, 15 of the useful indices by continent were extracted, prioritized and listed in table 5.According to the table, air pollution was identified as the most useful indicator by owning the first priority within the three continents.This indicator is of high priority, possibly due to the direct relationship with the wellness of the ports vicinity people.Efficient measures have been taken in lots of regions around the world -especially in the objective regions-to reduce the air pollution of ports; for instance, the methods Cold Ironing and Onshore Generation [3,24,26].Although the water pollution has also been used as one of the other useful indices within the three continents, this indicator has been ranked in the third priority in the two continents Asia and Europe, while in America, it has been of the first priority and importance.In the recent years, by taking proper measures such as the reduction of oil and ship fuel leakage and/or collection of ship waste from the port, huge steps have been taken towards the reduction of such pollutions [15].Among the 15 identified useful indices within the three continent, 8 indices namely air pollution, transportation, water pollution, traffic, soil pollution, climate change and dredging have been utilized commonly in every three continents, as it shows the high significance of these indices.

Frequency of Occurrence of Index
The fourth scale in categorizing and analysis of the previous literatures is the Frequency of occurrence of index.This scale would give noticeable results by neglecting the indices importance in the EIAP.Finally, the Frequency of occurrence of each indicator in the previous literatures and case studies were analyzed and the results are presented in table 6.In addition to the main indices in the table, the sub-indices are introduced and ranked.The air pollution has owned the highest percentage between all other environmental indices, indicating the great impact of this type of pollution on the ports environment.Transportation, traffic, greenhouse gasses and dust have also owned a considerable portion of pollution, where essential measures has to be taken in order to reduce and/or prevent them.Noise pollution also same as the air pollution has been responsible for a considerable portion.The drivers of this type of pollution are usually transportation, traffic and vessel berthing.Water pollution was also a repetitive indicator.The main indices contributing in water pollution are transportation, traffic, waste production, greenhouse gasses and dredging.Transportation and traffic, waste generation and greenhouse gasses have been secondary indices which have been

Conceptual Framework for Evaluation of EIAP
Exact study and analysis of a scientific subject the prerequisite of identifying the indices.To use these indices for the future studies and properly combine them, an obvious solution is required.Conceptual framework as an analytic tool, is used to conceptually separate and organize the ideas.In the following, to achieve the second goal of the study, various aspects in the evaluation of environmental impacts of ports according to the previous studies were analyzed; and the conceptual framework using the presented elements are shown in Figure 4.
The presented conceptual framework is in the form of a sphere in which the main and sub elements are revolving.In this framework, there is a main core (EIAP), and all of the main and sub elements are in a sequential relationship according to the center of the sphere and they finally result in the center.Initially, using criteria such as study aspects (human and environment) and the application (quantitative -qualitative), time and locative criteria and the Frequency of occurrence of index, the main and sub-indices were determined and discussed separately.As presented in the results, the main and sub-indices are different in terms of priority based on the time and locative criteria.Therefore, there is need to use a Multi-Criterion Decision Making Method considering the Decision Making Units.In addition, decision making units are used due to the difference in the local regulations and port structures in the economic and environmental affairs.Thus, use of experts would give a remarkable aid toward the optimization or optimum weight of each indicator as well as the priority of determining them in the EIAP [32].
Finally, main and sub-indices are ready to be used in a port for EIAP, based on the application priority.In this conceptual framework, regarding the overlap of time and locative criteria as well as the Frequency of occurrence of indices, a number of 10 indices have been considered as the main indices; namely: air pollution, noise, water pollution, transportation, traffic, production of greenhouse gasses, waste generation, soil pollution, climate change and dredging.Use of these 10 indices is an important part of a plan of EIAP.Regarding the sensitivity of the issue, some other main and/or sub-indices might be employed.Hence, making use of a precise analysis and a clear framework in the EIAP is a substantial step towards the awareness about the beneficial and harmful impacts of construction and operation of ports.

Conclusion
Environmental impacts assessment is a determining goal in order to reduce the pollution in ports.This is achieved by investigation and analysis through the former literatures.This study is aimed at gaining two major purposes.Firstly, identifying the main and sub-indices which determine the EIAP.Towards this, four useful scales were utilized; namely: the study aspects and application, time analysis, analysis of the location, and the Frequency of occurrence of indices.The indices for EIAP in the prior studies were applied and analyzed separately based on these four scales.In this process, totally 200 main and sub-indices were identified.Air, noise, transportation, traffic, greenhouse gasses generation, waste, soil, climate change and dredging pollutions were the 10 first determining indices.The second purpose of the study intended in the presentation of a conceptual framework resulted from analysis of the indices in EIAP.This framework, not only sheds light to the proper EIAP for further investigations, but also upgrades the knowledge of managers and experts of ports for betterment of decision-making over the environmental plans.Furthermore, the analyses presented in this study and the corresponding results could be an appropriate reference for EIAP in Iran.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 -
Preparation of MOU agreement with the partner organizations and systems in which the following subjects are considered: The availability of using hardware (vessels, bows and navigation services) and software of the port administrations for the permanent environmental monitoring  Cooperation with the environmental protection agency (EPA) in the pollution monitoring, marine patrols, joint maritime operations using the existing protective forces  Rescue of the maritime mammals  Reduction of the maritime waste Compilation of the environmental and sustainability indicators for the ports and piers of the country for monitoring the environmental situation of them, considering the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and conventions provisions as well as the regional and international agreements Permanent report for the degree of execution of the compiled sustainable development policies and environmental sustainability indicators.Presentation of the Integrated Management Plan (IMP) or any Environmental Management Plan (EMP) existing in the ports.

Figure 1 .Figure 2 .Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Frequency & priority of each top 15 indicators in three continents the previous related studies.

Figure 3 .Figure 1 .
Figure 3. Top 10 priority of main indices based on frequency of occurrence scale Figure 1.shows the 10 first primary indices based on the quantity.It is clear that the air pollution indicator with 87.5%, has owned the maximum quantity, and the dredging indicator with 28.5%, has owned the minimum quantity in comparison to the other indices.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Conceptual framework for the EIAP

Table 1 . Literature review Study Main indices Sub-indices Study dimensions Application type
Sewage and waste pollution of the ship, Brightness, Discharge and loading of hazardous materials, Deforestation, Embankment, Drilling, Labor transport, Trench digging, Insulation, Pipeline operation, Crushers maintenance, Coastal hydrology (Wave front variation, Erosion, Beach beard)

Table 6 . Top 10 priority of indices based on frequency of occurrence scale
Indices that in some cases are a sub-indicator and in some cases are the main indicator *