US Navy gets 7 more years to train in Hawaii and California waters, despite marine mammal impact

The US government has renewed rules that let the Navy, Coast Guard, and Army conduct training and testing activities in Hawaii and California waters for another seven years. These rules allow military operations to incidentally harm marine mammals, as long as they follow specific mitigation and reporting requirements.

The US military can continue its readiness activities in critical training areas without significant changes to how it manages impacts on marine mammals. This means that environmental groups will likely continue to challenge these permits, but the military's operational tempo and methods will remain largely consistent. The rules also set the baseline for what is considered an acceptable level of incidental harm to protected species during military exercises.