Navy training to continue with Presidential exemption from CZMA and alternative NEPA arrangements with CEQ

The Navy announced on 16 Jan that two important steps have been taken under existing law and regulations to allow it to conduct effective, integrated training with sonar off the coast of southern California after a federal court earlier this month imposed untenable restrictions on such training.

In accordance with the provisions of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), and at the recommendation of the Secretary of Commerce, the President concluded that continuing these vital exercises without the restrictions imposed by the district court is in the paramount interests of the United States. He signed an exemption from the requirements of the CZMA for the Navy’s continued use of mid-frequency active (MFA) sonar in a series of exercises scheduled to take place off the coast of California through January 2009. The Navy already applies twenty-nine mitigation measures approved by federal environmental regulators when using active sonar, and these will remain in place.

In a separate but related action, the Council on Environmental Quality approved the Navy’s request for alternative arrangements for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, for these exercises until completion of the Southern California Range Complex environmental impact statement.

For additional information, contact the Navy Office of Information at (703) 697-5342 or visit the Navy’s Web site concerning sonar and marine mammals at http://www.whalesandsonar.navy.mil/, or the Southern California Range Complex Environmental Impact Statement Web site at http://www.socalrangecomplexeis.com/. See also a more recent Navy Times article titled "Judge lifts parts of Navy sonar restrictions" at http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/navy_sonar_update_080118w/.