NOAA Sets Rules for Navy Sonar Training

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NOAA Sets Rules for Navy Sonar Training

By Randolph E. Schmid
Posted : Friday Jan 23, 2009 14:32:35 EST

WASHINGTON — Federal fisheries regulators announced rules Friday to protect marine mammals during Navy sonar training along the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

The rules authorize the Navy to conduct the training, while requiring it to take steps to avoid endangering mammals such as whales.

Similar regulations were issued previously covering the West Coast and Hawaii by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The rules will be in effect for five years, but the Navy will have to provide annual reports and seek a new letter of authorization for its training each year, said Jim Lecky, director of the office of protective services at NOAA’s Fisheries Service.

Last fall the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Navy in a case in which environmental groups had sought to block sonar training off the coast of Southern California.

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http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/01/ap_sonar_012309/%2e