The U.S. Navy will increase its training and research in Hawai'i but not its sonar use, according to an environmental impact statement for its Hawai'i operations released yesterday.

It is the final stamp on a proposal released in March that calls for the Navy to upgrade and modernize its training and research capabilities in the state.

The Navy said the study evaluated four alternatives ranging from taking no action to two that called for increasing sonar use, training and research in various increments — and the final option, to keep sonar use as minimal as possible while increasing and upgrading training and research activities.

"The statement finalizes what was suggested before," said Mark Matsunaga, environmental specialist with the Navy. "The Navy recognizes concerns over sonar use and as good environmental stewards, we want to keep it as minimal as possible."

Matsunaga said the EIS does not call for the Navy to use any more additional land or air space than the Navy is using now. He also said the activities being performed are the same as the Navy has been doing with sonar the past 30 years.

The Hawai'i EIS is the first of 12 environmental statements the Navy is conducting across the United States to be completed, the Navy said.

"The Navy must train its deploying forces in the most realistic manner possible," said B.J. Penn, assistant secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment.

"This record of decision will allow us to continue giving our young men and women the skills they need to be effective in combat," he said.

Vice Adm. Samuel Locklear, commander of the U.S. Third Fleet, called the Hawai'i range "vital" for Navy training and research.

"Completion of the environmental impact statement and the record of decision will help the Navy continue to use the Hawai'i range and to increase those activities as needed for the nation's security while we maintain our stewardship of the environment," Locklear said.

The study was completed with the Navy facing increasing pressure from environmental groups over its use of midfrequency active sonar and concerns over its affects on marine mammals.

Capt. Dean Leech, environmental counsel for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the EIS "is the product of several years of work that included scoping meetings and two rounds of public hearings on each of the four main Hawaiian Islands. We received more than 4,500 comments from the public, and we thank everyone who took the time to review the documents and submit comments."

The Hawaii Range Complex EIS/OEIS includes a full discussion of sonar and its effects on marine mammals. Leech lauded the report as the most detailed analysis of sonar effects on marine mammals the Navy has ever done.

"The analysis is based on the best available science and is the result of extensive coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is responsible for regulating activities associated with potential effects on marine mammals, in accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act," Leech said.