The very nature of the port authority’s activity is the generation and operation of port infrastructure. Before undertaking new works, consultations must be made regarding the need for such work to be subjected or otherwise to the environmental procedures contemplated in the prevailing legislation. These consultations give rise to various kinds of environmental impact and additional studies, as well as to resulting environmental surveillance programmes.
Port infrastructure management entails another series of actions aimed at protecting the environment.
In 2007, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Port Authority carried out several activities involving infrastructure and operations vis-à-vis the environment, the most outstanding of which are listed below.
As mentioned above, additions to infrastructure call for consultations on applicable environmental procedures, drafting, studies and follow-ups.
In addition to complying with requirements and statements issued by the Ministry of the Environment, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Port Authority also devises an environmental surveillance programme as part of its environmental policy. This programme is applied during works execution with the same degree of control as for works of similar characteristics that have recently been assessed by regulated environmental impact statements. Corrective measures are added to the tender documentation that the port authority usually applies to maritime works of similar characteristics.

A clear example of this is the environmental surveillance programme “New Container Terminal at the Dársena del Este or East Dock in Santa Cruz de Tenerife Port, Phase I”, which was started at the beginning of 2005 and continued throughout 2007. According to the Directorate-General for Quality and Environmental Assessment, this work was not required to be subjected to the aforementioned regulated procedure, but the port authority is undertaking its own environmental follow-up. This procedure was also not required for the programme for the project “South Extension of the Muelle de Ribera or Embankment and Widening of the Alignment of the Dock” in the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma, on which work began in 2007.