The Navy actively sought and achieved through the 2004 Defense Authorization Act (Section 319), a clarification of the definition of “take” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Specifically, this provision modified the meaning of Level B Harassment of a marine mammal when caused by military activities. The net result of this change was to increase slightly the harassment threshold and thereby reduce the number of occasions in which the military services would need to consult the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding their testing or training operations.
16https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/house-bill/1588/text
18https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/50/21.15
(http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/olc/docs/2004NDAA.pdf).
Box 4.1: Harassment
Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, “harassment” is one component of a larger prohibition known as a “taking” and consists of two levels:
Level A Harassment: Action with the potential to injure marine mammals or marine mammal stock in the wild (e.g. ship strike, underwater explosion).
Level B Harassment: Action with the potential to disturb marine mammals or marine mammal stock in the wild by causing disruption of behavioral patterns. (e.g. sonar, aircraft overflight).
Next Page: Major issues at the nexus of conservation and policy
Author
J. Douglas Ripley, Environmental Consultant U.S. Air Force (Retired)
With updates and Additional contributions by: James van Ness, Senior Level Attorney Advisor Office of the Secretary of Defense