Environmental assessment, MCAS Cherry Point Range Operations, Craven, Carteret, and Pamlico counties, North Carolina Environmental assessment, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Range Operations, Craven, Carteret, and Pamlico counties, North Carolina MCAS Cherry Point Range Operations Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Range Operations

"The National Oceanic and Atmospheric [Administration]'s Office of Protected Resources (OPR) proposes to issue an Incidental Harassment Authorization, to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), authorizing the take of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) incidental to Air Station Cherry Point range operations within Pamlico Sound, NC. The USMC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) entitled 'MCAS Cherry Point Range Operations at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, ' dated January 2009, describing the environmental impacts of their proposed military training activities. The OPR has reviewed this EA and has determined that it is adequate for adoption. The adverse effects of the proposed action are not expected to be significant. The USMC's EA adequately analyzes all environmental impacts of OPR's proposed action to issue an IHA. Among all other impacts analyzed in the EA, OPR looked in particular at the impacts to marine mammals from air-to-surface and surface-to-surface training activities, including injury and mortality risk from live fire explosions, direct hit risk from both inert and live fire, and acoustic disturbances"--Cover letter.