THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

169

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting a moratorium on the deployment of high intensity active sonar, including low frequency active sonar by the united states and nato navies.

 

WHEREAS, low frequency active sonar (LFAS) is soon to be deployed in seventy-five per cent of the world's oceans by the U.S. and NATO navies as a technology to detect modern submarines; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission reported in 1996 that the effects of the LFAS on marine mammals could include: death from lung hemorrhage or other tissue trauma; temporary or permanent hearing loss or impairment; and disruption of feeding, breeding, nursing, acoustic communication and sensing or other vital behavior; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission stated that "if the LFAS is made available for worldwide deployment, all species and population of marine mammals could possibly be affected"; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. National Research Council, in a report "Marine Mammals and Low Frequency Sound: Progress Since 1994", expressed concern about the potential effects of loud low frequency sound on the entire marine mammal food chain including zooplankton and fish; and

WHEREAS, there is a lack of adequate empirical data and proper research into the effects of the deployment of LFAS and other high intensity active sonar by the U.S. and NATO navies; and

WHEREAS, LFAS poses a potential impact on commercial fishing and the already depleted fish stocks throughout the world's oceans; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Navy stated in its environmental impact statement on LFAS that there is a lack of empirical data on effects of LFAS between 155 and 180 decibels; and

WHEREAS, there is a complete lack of research and information about the cumulative, synergistic, and long-term effects of high intensity active sonar on the longevity and reproduction rates of marine mammals, fish, and other marine life; and

WHEREAS, there have been mass strandings in the Bahamas (March 2000) and the Canary Islands (September 2002) when whales died from acoustic trauma after exposure to high intensity active sonar; and

WHEREAS, humans in the water have been impacted by these sonar; and

WHEREAS, there are passive listening technologies that can perform the same function as LFAS without the harmful effects on marine and human life; and

WHEREAS, the use of LFAS in seventy-five percent of the world's oceans may set a dangerous precedent and open the gates to widespread misuse of sound in the marine environment; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. is a signatory to the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) of 1982; and

WHEREAS, the deployment of LFAS and other high intensity active sonar is in breach of Articles 204-206 of UNCLOS, in particular, Article 206, UNCLOS, that requires states to "assess the potential effects of such activities on the marine environment and shall communicate the results of such assessments"; and

WHEREAS, such deployment also violates Article 194, UNCLOS, that provides that "States shall take all measures that are necessary to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from any source"; and

WHEREAS, proper and effective compliance with these obligations requires a precautionary approach as made explicit in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Maastricht Treaty; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the House of Representatives concurring, that an immediate moratorium is requested on any deployment of LFAS and other high intensity active sonar by navies of NATO and other navies until such time as independent, peer review, comprehensive global environmental assessments have been undertaken which incorporate studies on the effects–-both short and long-term–-of sonar on fish, fish eggs, larvae, zoopolankton, marine mammals, and crustaceans; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. and NATO countries deploying high intensity active sonar are requested to prepare and make public studies on the environmental impact of the sonar as required under Article 206, UNCLOS; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Coastal Zone Management Program is requested to reevaluate its federal consistency concurrence for LFAS and submit revisions if necessary, and report to the Legislature on its review of federal consistency no later than twenty days prior to the Regular Session of 2004; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Navy is requested to use the safe alternatives to active sonar that are in use or development currently; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States President, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Commerce, Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, Coastal Zone Management Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ocean Mammal Institute, and the United Nations Environmental Programme.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFAS)