The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday to hear the Navy's demand to revert limitations on its ability to train with sonar off the California coast due to concerns about harm to whales and dolphins.

The justices agreed to hear the Bush administration's appeal of federal court decisions that have forbidden sonar use within 12 miles of the coast and required the Navy to diminish or shut down the sonic blasts when it reveals the presence of whales or other marine mammals. Lower courts have rejected President Bush's try to clear the Navy from environmental laws and permit unrestrained use of sonar in training to detect enemy submarines.

In March, The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, located in San Francisco, supported most of a court ruling that prohibits high-powered sonar near the California coast and sets other limits on Navy training exercises.

Several environmental groups filled a lawsuit against the Navy to stop them from using sonar in the Pacific Ocean near southern California. The area is home to nine threatened or endangered species of whales, dolphins, sea lions and seals.

The Navy said using the mid-frequency sonar is crucial in training the military to reveal the position of quiet-running electric-diesel submarines. The courts have approved with the Navy exercises to go on under the restricted conditions, and they are scheduled to complete in January 2009. The Navy’s appeal of the case, Winter vs. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., is programmed to be heard by the high court, this fall.

The Navy and environmentalists have been fighting this battle for more than a decade.