The Action Proponents must implement the following monitoring and reporting requirements when conducting the specified activities:
(a) Notification of take. If the Action Proponent reasonably believes that the specified activity identified in § 218.70 resulted in the mortality or serious injury of any marine mammals, or in any Level A harassment or Level B harassment of marine mammals not identified in this subpart, then the Action Proponent shall notify NMFS immediately or as soon as operational security considerations allow.
(b) Monitoring and reporting under the LOAs. The Action Proponents must conduct all monitoring and reporting required under the LOAs.
(c) Notification of injured, live stranded, or dead marine mammals. Action Proponent personnel must abide by the Notification and Reporting Plan, which sets out notification, reporting, and other requirements when dead, injured, or live stranded marine mammals are detected. The Notification and Reporting Plan is available at: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-military-readiness-activities.
(d) Annual HCTT Study Area marine species monitoring report. The Navy, on behalf of the Action Proponents, must submit an annual HCTT Study Area marine species monitoring report describing the implementation and results from the previous calendar year. Data collection methods will be standardized across range complexes and the HCTT Study Area to allow for comparison in different geographic locations. The draft report must be submitted to the Director, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, annually. NMFS will submit comments or questions on the report, if any, within 3 months of receipt. The report will be considered final after the Action Proponents have addressed NMFS' comments, or 3 months after submittal of the draft if NMFS does not provide comments on the draft report. The report must describe progress of knowledge made with respect to intermediate scientific objectives within the HCTT Study Area associated with the Integrated Comprehensive Monitoring Program. Similar study questions must be treated together so that progress on each topic can be summarized across all Navy ranges. The report need not include analyses and content that do not provide direct assessment of cumulative progress on the monitoring plan study questions.
(e) Quick look reports. In the event that the sound levels analyzed in the preambles of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) proposed rule (90 FR 32118, July 16, 2025) and final rule (90 FR 58810, December 17, 2025) were exceeded within a given reporting year, the Action Proponents must submit a preliminary report(s) detailing the exceedance within 21 days after the anniversary date of issuance of the LOAs.
(f) Annual HCTT training and testing reports. Regardless of whether analyzed sound levels were exceeded, the Navy must submit a detailed report (HCTT Annual Training Exercise Report and Testing Activity Report) and the Coast Guard and Army must each submit a detailed report (HCTT Annual Training Exercise Report) to the Director, Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, annually. NMFS will submit comments or questions on the reports, if any, within 1 month of receipt. The reports will be considered final after the Action Proponents have addressed NMFS' comments, or 1 month after submittal of the drafts if NMFS does not provide comments on the draft reports. The annual reports must contain a summary of all sound sources used (total hours or quantity (per the LOAs) of each bin of sonar or other non-impulsive source; total annual number of each type of explosive exercises; and total annual expended/detonated rounds (missiles, bombs, sonobuoys, etc.) for each explosive bin). The annual reports must also contain cumulative sonar and explosive use quantity from previous years' reports through the current year. Additionally, if there were any changes to the sound source amount analyzed in the reporting year, or cumulatively, the reports would include a discussion of why the change was made and include analysis to support how the change did or did not affect the analysis in the 2025 HCTT Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (https://www.nepa.navy.mil/hctteis/) and the analysis in the MMPA final rule (90 FR 58810, December 17, 2025). The annual reports must also include the details regarding specific requirements associated with the mitigation areas listed in paragraph (f)(4) of this section. The analysis in the detailed report must be based on the accumulation of data from the current year's report and data collected from previous annual reports. The detailed reports shall also contain special reporting for the Hawaii humpback whale special reporting mitigation area, as described in the LOAs. The final annual/close-out reports at the conclusion of the authorization period (year 7) will also serve as the comprehensive close-out reports and provide the annual totals for each sound source bin with a comparison to the annual amount analyzed and the 7-year total for each sound source bin with a comparison to the 7-year amount analyzed. The HCTT Annual Training and Testing Reports must include the specific information described in the LOAs.
(1) Major training exercises (MTEs). This section of the report must contain the following information for MTEs completed that year in the HCTT Study Area.
(i) Exercise information (for each MTE). For exercise information (for each MTE):
(A) Exercise designator.
(B) Date that exercise began and ended.
(C) Location.
(D) Number and types of active sonar sources used in the exercise.
(E) Number and types of passive acoustic sources used in exercise.
(F) Number and types of vessels, aircraft, and other platforms participating in each exercise.
(G) Total hours of all active sonar source operation.
(H) Total hours of each active sonar source bin.
(I) Wave height (high, low, and average) during exercise.
(ii) Individual marine mammal sighting information for each sighting in each exercise where mitigation was implemented. For individual marine mammal sighting information for each sighting in each exercise where mitigation was implemented:
(A) Date, time, and location of sighting.
(B) Species (if not possible, indication of whale/dolphin/pinniped).
(C) Number of individuals.
(D) Initial Detection Sensor (e.g., passive sonar, Lookout).
(E) Indication of specific type of platform observation was made from (including, for example, what type of surface vessel or testing platform).
(F) Length of time observers maintained visual contact with marine mammal.
(G) Sea state.
(H) Visibility.
(I) Sound source in use at the time of sighting.
(J) Indication of whether animal was less than 200 yd (182.9 m), 200 to 500 yd (182.9 to 457.2 m), 500 to 1,000 yd (457.2 m to 914.4 m), 1,000 to 2,000 yd (914.4 m to 1,828.8 m), or greater than 2,000 yd (1,828.8 m) from sonar source.
(K) Whether operation of sonar sensor was delayed, or sonar was powered or shut down, and the length of the delay.
(L) If source in use was hull-mounted, true bearing of animal from the vessel, true direction of vessel's travel, and estimation of animal's motion relative to vessel (opening, closing, parallel).
(M) Lookouts must report, in plain language and without trying to categorize in any way, the observed behavior of the animal(s) (such as animal closing to bow ride, paralleling course/speed, floating on surface and not swimming, etc.) and if any calves were present.
(iii) An evaluation (based on data gathered during all of the MTEs) of the effectiveness of mitigation measures designed to minimize the received level to which marine mammals may be exposed. For an evaluation (based on data gathered during all of the MTEs) of the effectiveness of mitigation measures designed to minimize the received level to which marine mammals may be exposed:
(A) This evaluation must identify the specific observations that support any conclusions the Navy reaches about the effectiveness of the mitigation.
(B) [Reserved]
(2) Sinking exercises (SINKEX). This section of the report must include the following information for each SINKEX completed that year in the HCTT Study Area:
(i) Exercise information. For exercise information:
(A) Location.
(B) Date and time exercise began and ended.
(C) Total hours of observation by Lookouts before, during, and after exercise.
(D) Total number and types of explosive source bins detonated.
(E) Number and types of passive acoustic sources used in exercise.
(F) Total hours of passive acoustic search time.
(G) Number and types of vessels, aircraft, and other platforms participating in exercise.
(H) Wave height in feet (high, low, and average) during exercise.
(I) Narrative description of sensors and platforms utilized for marine mammal detection and timeline illustrating how marine mammal detection was conducted.
(ii) Individual marine mammal observation (by Action Proponent Lookouts) information for each sighting where mitigation was implemented. For individual marine mammal observation (by Action Proponent Lookouts) information for each sighting where mitigation was implemented:
(A) Date/time/location of sighting.
(B) Species (if not possible, indicate whale, dolphin, or pinniped).
(C) Number of individuals.
(D) Initial detection sensor (e.g., sonar or Lookout).
(E) Length of time observers maintained visual contact with marine mammal.
(F) Sea state.
(G) Visibility.
(H) Whether sighting was before, during, or after detonations/exercise, and how many minutes before or after.
(I) Distance of marine mammal from actual detonations (or target spot if not yet detonated): Less than 200 yd (182.9 m), 200 to 500 yd (182.9 to 457.2 m), 500 to 1,000 yd (457.2 to 914.4 m), 1,000 to 2,000 yd (914.4 to 1,828.8 m), or greater than 2,000 yd (1,828.8 m).
(J) Lookouts must report the observed behavior of the animal(s) in plain language and without trying to categorize in any way (such as animal closing to bow ride, paralleling course/speed, floating on surface and not swimming, etc.), including speed and direction and if any calves were present.
(K) The report must indicate whether explosive detonations were delayed, ceased, modified, or not modified due to marine mammal presence and for how long.
(L) If observation occurred while explosives were detonating in the water, indicate munition type in use at time of marine mammal detection.
(3) Summary of sources used. This section of the report must include the following information summarized from the analyzed sound sources used in all training and testing events:
(i) Totals for sonar or other acoustic source bins. Total annual hours or quantity (per the LOA) of each bin of sonar or other acoustic sources (e.g., pile driving and air gun activities); and
(ii) Total for explosive bins. Total annual expended/detonated ordnance (missiles, bombs, sonobuoys, etc.) for each explosive bin.
(4) San Nicolas Island. The report must summarize activities and observations of the San Nicolas Island target and missile launch activities for the monitoring period.
(5) Special reporting for geographic mitigation areas. This section of the report must contain the following information for activities conducted in geographic mitigation areas in the HCTT Study Area:
(i) Hawaii humpback whale special reporting mitigation area. The Action Proponents must report the total hours of MF1 and MF1C surface ship hull-mounted mid-frequency active sonar used from November through May in the mitigation area.
(ii) California large whale real-time notification mitigation area. The Navy must report the date, time and general location of the whales when an aggregation is first sighted and the total number of whales in the aggregation. If the whales are identified by species, the Navy must report that information as well.
(iii) National security requirement. If an Action Proponent(s) invokes the national security requirement described in § 218.74(a)(2)(xi), the Action Proponent personnel must include information about the event in its Annual HCTT Training and Testing Report.
(6) Foreign military sonar and explosives. Navy personnel must confirm that foreign military use of sonar and explosives, when such militaries are participating in a U.S. Navy-led exercise or event, combined with the Action Proponents' use of sonar and explosives, would not cause exceedance of the analyzed levels within each NAEMO modeled sonar and explosive bin used for estimating predicted impacts.
(g) MTE sonar exercise notification. The Action Proponents must submit to NMFS (contact as specified in the LOAs) an electronic report within 15 calendar days after the completion of any MTE indicating:
(1) Location. Location of the exercise;
(2) Dates. Beginning and end dates of the exercise; and
(3) Type. Type of exercise.