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TL:DRA United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed Wednesday that
it would take more than $7 billion to catch up to the U.S. Coast Guard's backlog of shore infrastructure needs, up from an estimated $2.6 billion in 2019.The GAO chalked up the approximately 160% increase between 2019's backlog and 2023's backlog figures to the addition of new assets and a rising number of deferred maintenance projects.
As of June 2024, the Coast Guard's shore assets totaled approximately $24 billion, according to the GAO's report. That figure includes operational infrastructure such as boat stations, piers and buildings, as well as support assets like utility systems, training facilities and housing.In 2023, the report said, the Coast Guard gave the overall condition of its shore
infrastructure a grade of "C" and found that almost 50% percent of those assets were beyond their expected service life.The backlogs, according to the GAO, include more than $6.1 billion for new construction and recapitalization projects, such as replacing assets at the end of their useful life, and about $877.3 million for deferred depot-level maintenance projects, such as airfield repaving.
The total backlog is likely higher, however, as the Coast Guard has not developed cost estimates for all of its potential projects and has not adjusted current cost estimates for inflation.
Federal funding for the Coast Guard's construction and maintenance needs, according to the report, consistently falls short, so the GAO has made recommendations that would allow the Coast Guard to make the most of what they receive.
Those recommendations are:
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Develop a plan to standardize facility condition assessments;
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Establish performance goals, measures and baselines to track the effectiveness of maintenance and repair work;
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Regularly collaborate with Congress toward reconciling the Coast Guard's shore infrastructure portfolio with mission requirements and dispose of unneeded assets;
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Establish guidelines around project prioritization decisions;
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Use models to predict investment outcomes, analyze trade-offs and optimize decision-making; and
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Include details about project alternatives and report trade-offs in federal budget requests and reports.
The GAO first made these suggestions after its 2019 review but said the Coast Guard has implemented only No. 1 and No. 4 and partially addressed No. 2 and No. 5. Not implementing all of the recommendations, the GAO said, means that the Coast Guard is likely losing available opportunities to reduce its shore infrastructure costs.
My Thoughts ðŸ’
I am shocked the amount isn’t $70B. The Coast Guard isn’t as large as the Army and Navy but still the staff has worked hard to keep up with the upkeep. I doubt they will get the funding they need to modernize their assets.