President George W Bush has exempted the Navy from an environmental law regulating the use of sonar off the California coast, the White House announced Wednesday.

Bush determined that the Navy needs to use the mid-frequency sonar to effectively train for anti-submarine warfare "in support of worldwide operational and combat activities, which are essential to national security."

"Compliance ... would undermine the Navy's ability to conduct realistic training exercises that are necessary to ensure the combat effectiveness of carrier and expeditionary strike groups," the White House statement said.

Earlier this month, a Los Angeles federal judge urged the Navy to limit the use of mid-frequency sonar within 12 miles of Southern California, which would greatly reduce the negative impact on marine life (whales and dolphins)

The decision was made by U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, and it is meant to avoid the use of mid-frequency sonar within the migrating corridor the various marine mammals use in their journey. According to federal rules, humans are to wear ear protection when using the sonar.

The Navy and environmental activists have been in a legal dispute over the practice for years. The Navy had previously proposed a set of regulations on the use of mid-frequency sonar, but the federal judge completely disagreed with them. The proposition of the Navy stated that the sonar’s intensity should be reduced when the marine mammals approached within 1,100 yards, and shut down when the creatures get as close as 200 yards.

As a response to the Navy proposition, the newly stated rule says that “the court is persuaded that the (protection) scheme proposed by the navy is grossly inadequate to protect marine mammals from debilitating levels of sonar exposure.” The judge ordered the sonar to be shut down when the mammals are within 2,200 yards and the waters to be scouted one hour before the exercise, in order to identify the possible presence of marine mammals.

The Navy declared itself aware of the damage the sonar exercises causes, estimating that a series of 14 exercises would temporarily deafen whales 8,000 times and cause permanent injuries to over 400 mammals, but said that its soldiers need to be trained somehow.

"By exempting the Navy from basic safeguards under both federal and state law, the president is flouting the will of Congress, the decision of the California Coastal Commission, and a ruling by the federal court," said Joel Reynolds, the director of mammal protection at the National Resources Defence Council