The U.S. Navy is accepting comments on a draft environmental impact statement that would renew its authorization to conduct training and testing in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The plan to extend the Navy’s activities has been attracting attention largely because of community opposition to a separate plan to conduct live-fire training on Pagan island, which is home to endangered species and historical sites. The draft EIS for that proposal isn’t expected to be published until 2015.

Navy spokesman Mark Matsunaga said that the current draft EIS deals exclusively with training in the ocean and on an island called Farallon de Medinilla, which has already been used to practice aerial bombing and other training exercises for several years.

“People on the shore are not going to notice a difference,” Matsunaga said. 

The draft EIS analyzes how the training could affect marine animals, especially sea turtles, and takes into account new equipment and other military capabilities that have emerged since training was last analyzed in 2009.

The deadline to submit online comments is Dec. 12.

The U.S. Navy wants to renew its authorization to use the island of Farallon de Medinilla for live-fire training, including practicing dropping bombs from planes. (Courtesy of NOAA)

— Anita Hofschneider