The objective of this work is to provide a framework for the evaluation of dust pollution as a result of bulk cargo terminal (BCT) operations. This comprises the formulation of a simplified but comprehensive model of BCT operation, which will be used as a base for dust emissions estimation. An implementation of the methodology is presented by performing the evaluation of dust emission in typical coal terminals located at the Caribbean Region of Colombia. In this context, a classification for coal export terminals is proposed to evaluate the relation between operation parameter and particulate matter emissions.