Public comment is open until Jan. 29 on the environmental impact of a new Navy operating permit for its Hawaii-California Training and Testing Study Area, effective 2025. The permit would include creation of new mine training areas off Hawaii and Southern California, along with other expansions for SoCal.

Areas of note: Since the last permit was granted in 2018, the Navy has reached its limit of three whale “takings” — all in California waters — and requested two more be allowed through 2025. And despite new data showing whales frequent potential new “mitigation areas” in Hawaii waters, the Navy has dismissed new protective boundaries because they conflict with “critical Navy training areas.”