Data / Federal rules / 2025-23088

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Military Readiness Activities in the Hawaii-California Training and Testing Study Area

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published this final rule in the Federal Register on December 17, 2025. It took effect on December 21, 2025.

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What the agency says

NMFS, upon request from the U.S. Department of the Navy (including the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps (Navy)) and on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard) and U.S. Army (Army; hereafter, Navy, Coast Guard, and Army are collectively referred to as Action Proponents), issues these regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to training and testing activities and modernization and sustainment of ranges conducted in the Hawaii-California Training and Testing (HCTT) Study Area over the course of 7 years from December 2025 through December 2032. These regulations allow for the issuance of letters of authorization (LOAs) for the incidental take of marine mammals during specified activities and timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species and their habitat, and establish requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. The Action Proponents' activities are considered military readiness activities pursuant to the MMPA, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (2004 NDAA) and the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2019 (2019 NDAA).

Key facts

Document number: 2025-23088
Type: Final rule
Action: Final rule; notification of issuance of Letters of Authorization
Agency: Commerce Department; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Published: December 17, 2025
Takes effect: December 21, 2025
Dates: Effective from December 21, 2025, through December 20, 2032.
Docket: Docket No. 251211-0182
Regulation ID (RIN): 0648-BN44
Code of Federal Regulations: 50 CFR 218
Pages: 231

The document on federalregister.gov PDF

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Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.