On behalf of our thousands of members, supporters and activists, EPIC submitted public comments on the U.S. Navy’s Northwest Training and Testing Environmental Impact Statement, which if approved would authorize the “take” of more than 500,000 marine mammals over the course of the next 5 years.
The original public comment period was scheduled to close on March 26, 2014, but due to the requests of EPIC and others, the Navy extended the public comment period until April 15th. In that time, EPIC alone was able to gather 6,203 comments and petition signatures from individuals to protect marine life from Navy Sonar and weapons testing in the Pacific Ocean.
The public will have the opportunity to review the Navy’s responses to comments when the Final EIS is available, which is expected in the summer of 2015.
The public will have another opportunity to provide public comments later this year when the National Marine Fisheries Service is expected to issue a proposed rule to authorize the Navy’s training and testing operations. At that time, we will call upon our supporters once more to speak up for all species that depend on safe clean ocean water for survival.