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Statement of Need: NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy (Navy) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to training activities conducted within the Hawaii Range Complex (HRC) for the period of December 2008 through December 2013. These training activities are classified as military readiness activities. The Navy states that these training activities may incidentally take marine mammals present within the HRC by exposing them to sound from mid-frequency or high frequency active sonar or to underwater detonations at levels that NMFS associates with the take of marine mammals. The final regulations would authorize these activities and govern the take of marine mammals. The Navy's mission is to maintain, train, and equip combat-ready naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, and maintaining freedom of the seas. Title 10, U.S. Code (U.S.C.) section 5062 directs the Chief of Naval Operations to train all naval forces for combat. The Chief of Naval Operations meets that direction, in part, by conducting at-sea training exercises and ensuring naval forces have access to ranges, operating areas and airspace where they can develop and maintain skills for wartime missions and conduct research, development, test, and evaluation of naval weapons systems. The HRC, where the Navy has, for more than 40 years, routinely conducted training and major exercises in the waters around the Hawaiian Islands, is a critical part of the Navy's mission, especially as it relates to training. Centrally located in the Pacific Ocean between the west coast of the United States and the naval stations in the western Pacific, and surrounding the most isolated islands in the world, the HRC has the infrastructure (i.e., extensive existing range assets and training capabilities) to support a large number of forces in a location both remote and under U.S. control. The range surrounds the major homeport of Naval Station Pearl Harbor, enabling re-supply and repairs to submarines and surface ships alike. The isolation of the range offers an invaluable facility on which to conduct missile testing and training. Able to link with the U.S. Army's Pohakuloa Training Area, as well as U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps bases where aircraft basing and amphibious training may occur, the HRC provides a superior joint training environment for all the U.S. armed services and advanced missile testing capability.

Summary of the Legal Basis: Marine Mammal Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. 1371(a)(5)(A).

Alternatives: A number of alternatives were analyzed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared for this action, published in April 2007, and available at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental.htm

Anticipated Costs and Benefits: Because the Navy is the only entity that will be directly affected by this rulemaking, NMFS did not perform an analysis of the anticipated costs and benefits.

Risks: This rule addresses the risk of take incidental to Navy training activities. The rule analyzes the risk of such take.