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The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday backed up U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper's decision that the Bush administration's "emergency" arrangements were not warranted and simply made to get around the law (Greenwire , Feb. 5). The appeals court said Cooper "carefully balanced the significant interests and hardships at stake to ensure that the Navy could continue to train without causing undue harm to the environment."

Joel Reynolds, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the decision was the first major victory in the appeals court on these sonar cases. "The court is saying that the Navy cannot violate the law with impunity and the president cannot waive it. When the Navy tests and trains with sonar, it can and must do so in an environmentally responsible way."

The appeals court gave the Navy a 30-day reprieve from the most far-reaching provisions -- such as shutting down the sonar when whales are spotted within 2,200 yards -- so it could conduct a pair of training missions this month off Southern California and to give it time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The Navy is carefully considering additional review, including possible review by the Supreme Court," Lt. Cmdr. Cindy Moore said Saturday. Once the monthlong reprieve ends, Moore said, the ruling "leaves in place significant restrictions of our ability to train realistically" (Kenneth R. Weiss, Los Angeles Times, March 2). -- SG

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