The Navy is releasing an environmental study today that it hopes will lead to a blanket authorization for sonar training around Hawai'i and do away with the need for case-by-case applications for permits from a federal regulatory agency that monitors harm to whales.

The ambitious study calls for increased training and testing over 2.3 million square nautical miles around Hawai'i to include anti-submarine warfare sonar, as well as testing on micro-satellite launches, laser-directed energy and hypersonic vehicles capable of speeds in excess of Mach 4 (around 3,000 mph).

The environmental impact statement — now in draft form at about 1,700 pages — also lays the groundwork for what the Navy hopes will be a more efficient way of complying with the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the use of active, or "pinging," sonar.

The last environmental impact statement for the Pacific Missile Range Facility off Kaua'ai was completed in 1998.

"Now, quite frankly, with the sonar science getting a little better, the Navy has made the commitment to go back and update that," said Neil Sheehan, project manager for the Hawai'i Range Complex Study.

The Defense Department in January exempted the Navy and its use of sonar from the federal marine animal protection law for two years, prompting an outcry from environmentalists, who maintain the underwater sound harms whales.

Last summer, a six-month exemption granted during biennial Rim of the Pacific, or Rimpac, naval exercises off Hawai'i led to a legal challenge, and a federal judge briefly prohibited midfrequency sonar use during the war games.

The Navy said the latest examination is part of a series of environmental reports to be produced on training plans around Hawai'i, near Guam and the Mariana Islands, and at East Coast and West Coast sea ranges.

The need for such a comprehensive review is fairly simple, Sheehan said: "As warfare evolves, so does the Navy."

Responding to growing scientific evidence that sonar can disrupt, injure or kill whales or dolphins, the Navy for the first time last summer sought a federal permit under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to disrupt or harass the sea creatures when it used midfrequency sonar during Rimpac war games.

A LONGTIME ISSUE

The January sonar training exemption was the latest stratagem in an ongoing battle that has pitted environmentalists and emerging science on the harm of sonar to whales against the Navy's need for sonar training to detect a growing fleet of extremely quiet foreign diesel submarines.

Public comment is being sought on the draft environmental study. When the study is finally approved, possibly next May, the Navy hopes the National Marine Fisheries Service, which issues what are called "incidental take permits" under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, will instead issue a blanket letter of authorization for all Navy exercises.

Navy policy calls for the ability to deploy six strike groups, and applying for a "take" permit to interfere with whales can take six to 12 months, the Navy said.

"They (strike groups) don't have six months to go through a process with regulators," said Cmdr. Dean Leech, an environmental lawyer with Pacific Fleet. "We (plan to) give them the blanket permit for that geographic area for those type of activities."

Sailors will stand watch, and plans to avoid marine mammals and power down sonar will be in place.

The full text of the report was not available yesterday, but an executive summary said no marine mammal deaths are predicted during training. But based on National Marine Fisheries recommendation to take into account "scientific uncertainty," the Navy is requesting 20 serious injury or mortality takes for whales and dolphins.

SUIT FILED IN 2005

Cara Horowitz, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said she had not yet had a chance to go through the 1,700-page report, adding that "we certainly hope the Navy does a better job in this environmental review than it historically has done."

The environmental group sued the Navy in 2005, charging that the service failed to undertake environmental reviews for sonar training.

Navy officials said the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument — the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — can be affected by missile tests, which are conducted about eight times a year. There is the potential for small pieces of debris to fall in the marine monument area.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.