Environmental Impact Statement Project Overview NEPA and CEQ
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Whales and Sonar

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PURPOSE AND NEED
(Ch. 1 is a small 200 kb PDF file)

The proposed action is to instrument a 1,713-square-kilometer (500-square-nautical mile) area of the ocean with undersea cables and sensor nodes, creating an undersea warfare training range (USWTR), and to use the area for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training.

The purpose of the proposed action is to enable the Navy to train effectively in a shallow water environment (encompassing 37 to 274 meters [m], or 120 to 900 feet [ft], in depth) at a suitable location for Atlantic Fleet units.

The need for the proposed action is fourfold, as follows:

  • Worldwide Deployment Involving Littoral Conditions. Atlantic Fleet units deploy worldwide, and shifts in the military strategic landscape require increased naval capability in the world’s shallow, or littoral, seas. Training effectively for these littoral environments requires the availability of realistic conditions in which actual potential combat situations can be adequately simulated.
  • Mission Readiness and Fulfillment. Training with the complex operating and weapons systems of submarines, surface ships, and aircraft in realistic combat conditions is key to fulfilling the Navy’s mission and maintaining Fleet combat readiness and to survival in actual wartime conditions. Timely and accurate feedback of training performance and the ability to rapidly reconstruct the training event through use of an instrumented at-sea training range also contribute directly to the Navy’s ability to fulfill its mission. The proposed USWTR provides an environment:
    • that is consistent with real-world threat situations.
    • where training exercises can be conducted under safe and controlled conditions.
    • with critically important real-time feedback that eliminates the need for iterative training events to validate and confirm results.
  • US World Role and the Global War on Terror. The role of the US on the world stage makes it imperative that US military forces are the best trained, prepared, and equipped in the world. ASW is a Navy core capability and is a critical part of that mission, and the Navy’s ASW forces must be highly trained and capable in littoral water operations
  • Threat of Modern Diesel Submarines. Crucial to today’s ASW training is training with active sonars, especially in view of the growing threat of quiet diesel or air-independent propulsion submarines that continue to proliferate among the world’s non-democratic nations. This global submarine threat is increasingly more menacing to the Navy’s mission and to the task of delivering fighting forces overseas.
 
Environmental Impact Statement