Dear All, The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an order in NRDC v. Winter, a case challenging the Navy's use of mid-frequency active sonar in major exercises off southern California. This comes in response to the Navy's appeal of a lower-court decision, issued last August, that barred use of mid-frequency sonar in those exercises. In its order, the Court found Plaintiffs have a strong likelihood of showing that the Navy violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). It then sent the case back to the lower court to draft a new injunction that provides "satisfactory safeguards for the protection of the environment" off southern California. The Navy will be enjoined from using sonar while the lower court is considering mitigation measures; but the injunction will not kick in for another 10 days, which will allow the Navy to complete an ongoing exercise. The new injunction should issue by January 4, before the next major exercise is scheduled to occur. If you'd like a copy of the Court's order, please let me know. A full opinion will be issued later. Cheers, Michael Michael Jasny Senior Policy Analyst Natural Resources Defense Council 4479 W. 5th Avenue Vancouver, BC V6R1S4 tel. 604-736-9386 fax 310-434-2399 mjasny@nrdc.org PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law as attorney-client and work-product confidential or otherwise confidential communications. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication or other use of a transmission received in error is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, immediately notify me at the above telephone number.