According to Coast Guard officials, every  Coast Guard facility, such as a base or boat station, is to be inspected by  a CEU representative every 3 years. The Coast Guard uses three accounts for its shore infrastructure. Almost Half of the Coast Guard’s Shore Infrastructure is Beyond Its Service Life, and Project Backlogs Will Cost at Least $2.6 Billion to Address

		Coast Guard Reported that 45 Percent of Its Shore Infrastructure Is Beyond Its Service Life

As of 2017, the Coast Guard’s annual report on shore infrastructure  stated that 45 percent of Coast Guard assets have exceeded their service  lives. Coast Guard’s Data Indicate that Project Backlogs of Shore Infrastructure Will Cost At Least $2.6 Billion to Address, as of 2018

Coast Guard data show that it will cost at least $2.6 billion to address its  two project backlogs—(1) recapitalization and new construction, and (2)  deferred maintenance. In November 2018, the Coast Guard told us there  were 205 projects on the PC&I backlog without cost estimates. Figure 2 shows the number of projects  with cost estimates and the estimated value of its PC&I backlog for fiscal  years 2012 through 2018. The Coast Guard’s Process for Managing Its Shore Infrastructure Does Not Fully Meet 6 of 9 Leading Practices, Resulting in Management Challenges

The Coast Guard’s process to manage its shore infrastructure  recapitalization and deferred maintenance backlogs does not fully meet 6  of 9 leading practices we have previously identified for managing public  sector maintenance backlogs. Specifically, of the nine leading practices,  the Coast Guard met three, partially met three, and did not meet three, as  shown in Table 6. Coast Guard Did Not Meet 3 of 9 Leading Practices for Managing Shore Infrastructure Backlogs

The Coast Guard did not meet 3 of 9 leading practices for managing  shore infrastructure backlogs, including establishing clear maintenance  and repair investment objectives, employing models for predicting the  outcomes of investments and analyzing trade-offs, and structuring  budgets and related information to address maintenance backlogs. Coast Guard officials provided one example of its efforts to model  outcomes, but it did not meet this leading practice because it has not  properly used the results of this model to optimize competing investments  for that asset line or any other asset line or provided documentary  evidence verifying that it properly applied it. A proposed fiscal year 2018 to 2020 Coast Guard  aviation pavement maintenance and recapitalization plan proposed using  the study results and recommended actions that it said could save the  Coast Guard $13.8 million by accelerating investment in aviation  pavement sooner rather than deferring such maintenance and  recapitalization. According to Coast Guard officials, the analytical  approach outlined in its 2017 study could be applied to all 13 of its shore  infrastructure asset lines. By not employing similar models across its asset  lines for predicting the outcome of investments, analyzing trade-offs, and  optimizing decisions among competing investments, the Coast Guard is  missing opportunities to potentially identify and achieve cost savings  across other asset lines. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The objectives of this report are to evaluate (1) what is known about the  condition and costs of managing the Coast Guard’s shore infrastructure,  and (2) the extent to which the Coast Guard’s process for managing its  shore infrastructure meets leading practices for managing public  maintenance backlogs.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Coast Guard, within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), owns or leases more than 20,000 shore facilities, such as piers, docks, boat stations, air stations, and housing units, at more than 2,700 locations. In June 2017, the Coast Guard testified to Congress that it had a $1.6 billion recapitalization backlog for its shore infrastructure, which had a replacement value of about $20 billion.
GAO was asked to review the Coast Guard's management of its shore infrastructure. This report examines: (1) what is known about the condition and costs of managing the Coast Guard's shore infrastructure, and (2) the extent to which the Coast Guard's process for managing its shore infrastructure meets leading practices.
To answer these questions, GAO reviewed relevant laws and Coast Guard annual reports on its shore infrastructure, analyzed Coast Guard data, and interviewed Coast Guard officials. GAO also compared Coast Guard policies and procedures, and actions taken during fiscal years 2012 through 2018 to manage its shore infrastructure, against the leading practices that GAO previously identified for managing public sector maintenance backlogs.

What GAO Found

About 45 percent of the Coast Guard's shore infrastructure is beyond its service life, and its current backlogs of maintenance and recapitalization projects, as of 2018, will cost at least $2.6 billion to address, according to Coast Guard information. The deferred maintenance backlog included more than 5,600 projects, with an estimated cost of $900 million. The recapitalization and new construction backlog had 125 projects, with an estimated cost of at least $1.77 billion as of 2018 (see figure). GAO's analysis of Coast Guard data found that as of November 2018 there were hundreds of recapitalization projects without cost estimates—the majority of recapitalization projects. Coast Guard officials told GAO that these projects are in the preliminary stages of development.
The Coast Guard's process for managing its shore infrastructure did not fully meet 6 of 9 leading practices that GAO previously identified. Of the nine leading practices, the Coast Guard met three, partially met three, and did not meet three. For example, the Coast Guard generally has not employed models for predicting the outcome of maintenance investments and optimizing among competing investments, as called for in leading practices. In one instance, the Coast Guard used a model to optimize maintenance for its aviation pavement and, according to Coast Guard officials, found that it could save nearly $14 million by accelerating investment in this area (e.g., paving runways) sooner rather than deferring such maintenance. Coast Guard officials told us that such modeling could be applied within and across all of its shore infrastructure asset types, but the Coast Guard did not implement the results of this model and does not require their use. Without requiring the use of such models, the Coast Guard could be missing opportunities to achieve cost savings and better manage its maintenance backlogs.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making six recommendations, which DHS agreed to implement, including that the Coast Guard align its management of its shore infrastructure backlogs with leading practices by requiring the use of models for predicting the outcome of, and optimizing among, competing investments for maintenance projects.