Federal judge says George Bush must obey even though he disagrees

Judge Reinstates Rules on Sonar, Criticizing Bush’s Waiver for Navy


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By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: February 5, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on Monday reinstated a series of provisions meant to protect whales from high-powered sonar during military exercises in the Pacific Ocean.

The decision was a rebuke to an effort by the Bush administration to exempt the Navy from those rules and from federal law.

The decision, by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of Federal District Court, found that the administration’s Council on Environmental Quality had overreached on Jan. 15 when it cited “urgent national security reasons” to approve weaker rules for the exercises.

In early January, Judge Cooper issued an injunction on naval exercises in the Pacific, requiring a series of mitigation efforts including shipboard and aerial monitors to watch for whales and a mandatory shutdown of midfrequency sonar whenever whales were spotted within 2,200 yards of ships.

But the council’s move coincided with the president’s waiver exempting the Navy from the Coastal Zone Management Act, which environmental groups had used as a legal basis for their arguments against the Navy’s use of midfrequency sonar. The groups say the sonar can injure, disorient and even kill certain species of whales. The Navy then appealed Judge Cooper’s injunction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which sent the case back to the district court.

On Monday, however, Judge Cooper rejected the administration’s arguments and raised serious questions on the constitutionality of the president’s waiver.

“We disagree with the judge’s decision,” The Associated Press quoted Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, as saying.

Joel Reynolds, a senior lawyer and head of marine mammal protection for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the judge’s decision was welcome news.