The Navy and Coast Guard propose to conduct training, research, development, testing, and other activities, including the use of sonar and explosives, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean along the East Coast, parts of the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. Training will also take place near Navy wharves and shipping lanes, civilian ports, and in inland waters such as bays, harbors, and the lower Chesapeake Bay. Map: Navy
The Department of the Navy and the Coast Guard have submitted a draft environmental impact study for continuing long-term offshore training activities along the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and parts of the Caribbean.
A 60-day public comment period opened Friday on the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement/Foreign Environmental Impact Statement submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Military officials have prepared a draft statement to renew and replace federal regulatory permits and authorizations for offshore training that expire in November 2025.
The draft supplemental environmental impact statement “assess[s]the reasonably foreseeable effects on the human environment of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard training and testing activities conducted within the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) Study Area.”
The study area includes portions of the western Atlantic Ocean along the east coast of North America, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to consider the potential impacts of proposed activities on the environment.
The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will conduct training, research, development, test and evaluation activities, including the use of active sonar and explosives, within existing firing ranges, test sites and other offshore areas. These activities will also be conducted at locations near Navy wharves, port shipping lanes, near civilian ports, and inland waterways, including bays, harbors and the lower Chesapeake Bay.
Officials said the training activities were “broadly consistent with those analyzed in the AFTT EIS/OEIS completed in 2018 and are representative of training and testing conducted in the AFTT study area over several decades.”
Since the 2018 impact report was completed, “the best available science has been updated, the regulatory environment has changed, the study area has shifted and what is known about our impacts has been refined,” officials said. The updated information has been incorporated into the new draft analysis.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service is a collaborating agency on the supplemental impact report.
NEPA’s website has more information about the project, and the public can view the draft supplemental statement there and submit comments. Documents also are available for review at the Onslow County Library, 58 E. Doris Ave. in Jacksonville.
There are in-person public open meetings scheduled, but none in North Carolina, but there are also virtual open meetings via Zoom scheduled for Oct. 22 from 6-7 p.m. and Oct. 24 from 2-3 p.m., where people can learn about the project and ask questions.
Public comments may be submitted electronically through a form on this website.
Written comments should be mailed to Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic, Attn: Code EV22SG (AFTT EIS Project Manager), 6506 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, VA 23508-1278.
All comments must be mailed or received electronically by 11:59pm on November 21st to be considered for the final Supplemental Impact Statement.
