Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to U.S. Navy Operations of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active Sonar in the Western and Central North Pacific Ocean and Eastern Indian Ocean

What it does

NMFS, upon request from the U.S. Department of the Navy (Navy), issues these regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to training and testing activities using Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS) Low Frequency Active (LFA) sonar systems in the western and central North Pacific and eastern Indian oceans over the course of 7 years from August 2026 through August 2033. These regulations allow for the issuance of a letter of authorization (LOA) 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 Navy's 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).

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

50 CFR 218

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has published 185 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 184 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 0648-BN61 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• March 10, 2026 Proposed rule; proposed letter of authorization; request for comments. Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to U.S. Navy Operations of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active Sonar in the Western and Central North Pacific Ocean and Eastern Indian Ocean

What happens next and when

Effective from August 12, 2026, through August 11, 2033.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket NOAA-NMFS-2025-0999 on Regulations.gov
• Title 50 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register