10 U.S.C. § 8635 — Establishment of the Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas

(a) The Secretary of the Navy must create two zones called "Southern Sea Otter Military Readiness Areas," set up for national defense purposes. The first covers Naval Base Ventura County, San Nicolas Island, and Begg Rock, plus the ocean waters around them within specific map coordinates listed in the law. The second covers Naval Base Coronado and San Clemente Island, plus the waters within 3 nautical miles of the island's high-tide line — the same area already known as the San Clemente Island 3NM Safety Zone.

(b) Inside these areas, three special rules apply while the Navy carries out a "military readiness activity" (things like combat training or realistically testing weapons and equipment). First, two sections of the Endangered Species Act that normally protect species from harm don't apply to a southern sea otter that's accidentally hurt or killed ("incidental taking") during that activity. Second, two sections of the Marine Mammal Protection Act that normally do the same thing also don't apply to that kind of accidental harm. Third, for purposes of a different Endangered Species Act rule about interagency consultation, any southern sea otter in these areas is treated as if it belonged to a species that's only "proposed" for listing as endangered or threatened — a lighter legal status — rather than a species that's actually listed.

(c) Nothing in this section, or in any other federal law, requires the government to physically remove sea otters from these military areas.

(d) The Secretary of the Interior can undo or change the special exceptions in (b). This happens if the Secretary of the Interior — after talking with the Secretary of the Navy — decides that military activity in these areas is actually hurting sea otter conservation or is blocking the otters from reaching a healthy, sustainable population size.

(e) The Secretary of the Navy must monitor and study how military training affects the sea otter population and the nearby shoreline ecosystem, using methods worked out together with the relevant wildlife service. The Navy must report to Congress and the public on this monitoring by November 25, 2017, and then again every three years after that.

(f) This section defines several key terms. "Southern sea otter" means the specific subspecies Enhydra lutris nereis. "Take" borrows its meaning from whichever law applies — the Endangered Species Act's definition when that Act is the one being discussed, or the Marine Mammal Protection Act's definition when that Act is the one being discussed. "Incidental taking" means harming or killing an otter by accident, as a side effect of doing something else that's otherwise legal — not on purpose. "Military readiness activity" has the meaning already used in a 2003 defense law, and covers all military training and operations related to combat, plus realistic testing of military equipment, vehicles, weapons, and sensors to make sure they work and are fit for combat. "Optimum sustainable population" means the otter population size that would produce the healthiest, most productive population overall, taking into account how much habitat is available and the health of the surrounding ecosystem.