The Navy welcomes and appreciates the public’s participation during the scoping period.

The Navy is accepting public comments through Jan. 29, 2024.

Fact Sheet

HCTT EIS/OEIS Impact Statement

Welcome

Welcome to the United States (U.S.) Department of the Navy's (Navy) Hawaii-California Training and Testing (HCTT) environmental planning website.

The HCTT website is an online resource for information concerning the preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS) to assess potential environmental effects associated with the Proposed Action to conduct at-sea military readiness activities within the HCTT Study Area (referred to as the “Study Area”). The Navy also proposes to modernize and sustain its ranges in a manner necessary to support these readiness activities.

The Proposed Action is needed to ensure U.S. military services are able to organize, train, and equip service members and personnel to meet their respective national defense missions in accordance with their Congressionally mandated requirements.

At-sea military readiness activities, which were last analyzed in the 2018 Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing (HSTT) EIS/OEIS and the 2022 Point Mugu Sea Range (PMSR) EIS/OEIS, include training and research, development, testing, and evaluation activities (referred to as “training and testing”). Proposed training and testing activities are similar to those analyzed in previous environmental impact analyses and are representative of activities that have been conducted off Hawaii and California for more than 80 years. 

Proposed training and testing activities may include the use of active sonar, explosives, and other sources of underwater sound. The Navy would continue to employ appropriate marine species protective mitigation measures when conducting these activities. The Navy will seek the reissuance of regulatory permits and authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act to support at-sea training and testing requirements within the Study Area. Current Marine Mammal Protection Act permits will expire in December 2025 for the HSTT EIS/OEIS and in July 2029 for the PMSR EIS/OEIS.

The development of the EIS/OEIS will help sustain the readiness of the Navy and other participating U.S. military services by:

• Supporting current and future training and testing requirements
• Increasing flexibility in conducting training and testing activities
• Modernizing and sustaining range capabilities
• Updating environmental impact analyses using the best available science and analytical methods
• Supporting Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act consultations for the reissuance of federal regulatory permits and  authorizations within the Study Area

HCTT Study Area

The HCTT Study Area (see Figure 1) consists primarily of the Hawaii Operating Area (OPAREA) and Temporary OPAREA (see Figure 2), the California OPAREA, and the transit corridor connecting the two. The Study Area includes only the at-sea components of the range complexes, Navy pierside locations and port transit channels, bays, harbors, inshore waterways, and civilian ports where training and testing activities occur, as well as transits between homeports and operating areas. For this EIS/OEIS, “at-sea components” include the marine environment around San Nicolas Island where marine mammals haul out on the shoreline. Missile and target firings from San Nicolas Island that could disturb the marine mammals are included in this analysis. Aside from this one exception, no other terrestrial impacts will be covered in the EIS/OEIS.

The HCTT Study Area (for the “Phase IV” analysis) differs from the 2018 HSTT Study Area (for the “Phase III” analysis) in that it includes (see Figure 3):

• An extended Southern California Range Complex 
• Special use airspace corresponding to the new extensions in California (the proposed W-293 and proposed W-294)
• Two existing training and testing at-sea ranges, the PMSR and the Northern California (NOCAL) Range Complex 
• Areas along the Southern California coastline from approximately Dana Point to Port Hueneme
• Four amphibious approach lanes providing land access from the NOCAL Range Complex and PMSR
   

     Hawaii-California Training and Testing Overview