PORT HUENEME, Calif. – The U.S. Navy released its Final Environmental Assessment regarding the proposed construction of about 123,000 square-feet of permanent testing and maintenance facilities at Naval Base Ventura County and found no significant impact on the local environment.
The proposal includes permanent facilities to test unmanned undersea and surface platforms including: laboratories, cranes, assembly/disassembly areas, a vehicle staging area, Command and Coordination area, expeditionary support and material storage areas, locker rooms, classrooms, multi-purpose training rooms, a simulator, watch area, research and testing areas, administrative space, battery shop, and a vehicle wash rack detailed the U.S. Navy in a press release about the environmental assessment.
Construction of the new facilities and pierside renovations are expected to begin no earlier than 2026 shared the U.S. Navy.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti speaks in front of Boeing's Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle on Dec. 6, 2024. Image courtesy of the U.S. Navy/Chief Mass Communications Specialist William Spears"Orca [Boeing's Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle], and other platforms like her, are an important step forward as we drive towards our future hybrid fleet, which is going be composed of manned and unmanned platforms," explained Chief of Naval Operation Admiral Lisa Franchetti after touring the new vessel in December of last year.
According to the U.S. Navy, the construction proposal would fit within the existing infrastructure at the naval installation and, "therefore would not result in significant impacts to potable water, wastewater, stormwater, solid waste management, energy, or communications."
The U.S. Navy received concurrence from the National Marine Fisheries Service on Sep. 24, 2024, that the proposal would not adversely affect Endangered Species Act-listed and proposed marine species nor designated critical habitats and received a concurrence from the California Coastal Commission on Sep. 27, 2024, that the proposal would not have a significant effect on the coastal zone.
Some voluntary mitigation efforts will be taken by the U.S. Navy despite the conclusion of the final assessment and concurrences of the minimal environmental impact added the U.S. Navy.
Additionally, the proposed action also includes the training and testing of up to six Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUV) and two Unmanned Surface Vessels in the waters to the west and southwest of Naval Base Ventura County Port Hueneme explained the U.S. Navy.
No explosive ordinance or detonation events are expected to be part of training and testing added the U.S. Navy.
The Boeing-designed XLUUV -or 'Orca'- is an autonomous submersible with the energy capacity for a 6,500 nautical mile range, enabling months-long missions with limited human input shared Boeing.
A Boeing XLUUV preparing for an at-sea test in CaliforniaNotably, Friday's announced environmental review only applies to training and testing in 2025, and training and testing beyond this year will be addressed in future National Environmental Policy Act-based assessments shared the U.S. Navy.
The image below, courtesy of Boeing, shows an XLUUV during final preparations at its Huntington Beach manufacturing site which can produce up to 12 XLUUVs per year explained Boeing.
After a public involvement period, three comments were received about the proposal stated the U.S. Navy.
The City of Camarillo noted the potential increase in noise from military flights associated with the delivery of the new platforms and the County of Ventura's Department of Toxic Substances Control Board pointed out that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently designated two types of contaminants -perfluorooctanioic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid- as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act detailed the U.S. Navy.
According to the U.S. Navy, both of those comments resulted in revisions to the final environmental assessment announced Friday.
The third comment was a request for consultation from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians that resulted in agreements over procedures for Tribal observations, potential archaeological Tribal monitoring of proposed construction sites, and avoidance of tribal fishing areas explained the U.S. Navy.
The evaluation and operation of autonomous systems and platforms are a key component of the Chief of Naval Operations' Navigation Plan for America's Warfighting Navy 2024.
Proposed unmanned surface and submersible testing site at NBVC Port Hueneme passes initial environmental assessment News Channel 3-12.
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