Military Readiness Activities in the Hawaii-California Training and Testing (HCTT) Study Area (2025-2032)
Summary
NOAA Fisheries, upon request from the U.S. Department of the Navy (including the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps) and on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Army, issued regulations to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to training and testing activities and modernization and sustainment of ranges conducted in the Hawaii-California Training and Testing (HCTT) Study Area over the course of 7 years from December 2025 through December 2032. These regulations allow for the issuance of letters of authorization for the incidental take of marine mammals during specified activities and timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species and their habitat, and establish requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. The Action Proponents’ activities are considered military readiness activities pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 and the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2019.
Federal Register
Supporting Materials
- Navy LOA (pdf, 42 pages)
- Coast Guard LOA (pdf, 24 pages)
- Army LOA (pdf, 15 pages)
- Notification and Reporting Plan (pdf, 4 pages)
- Application (pdf, 648 pages)
- Revised Vessel Strike Analysis (pdf, 9 pages)
- Environmental Impact Statement
- Public Comments
- Biological Opinion
- Record of Decision (pdf, 10 pages)
- References, Proposed Rule (pdf, 51 pages)
- References, Final Rule (pdf, 55 pages)