United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-05-14 monographic deposited born digital 59 p. GA 1.13:RCED-97-110 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-110 P0b002ee18039e83f f:rc97110 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-110 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-110 RCED-97-110 Deficit reduction Marine safety Budget cuts Strategic planning Cost control Mission budgeting User fees Future budget projections Presidential budgets Base closures Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Aquatic Resources Trust Fund Coast Guard National Plan for Streamlining Coast Guard Capital Investment Plan Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service 2000 Program Other Written Product RCED Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the fiscal constraints that the Coast Guard is facing and the efforts that it is making to adjust to constrained budgets, focusing on: (1) the extent of the gap between the funding needed to maintain the Coast Guard's current level of services and the funding that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has targeted for the agency through fiscal year (FY) 2002; (2) the Coast Guard's strategy for addressing this gap, and whether the strategy is adequate; and (3) what additional actions, if any, would help close the gap. GAO did not verify the accuracy of or attempt to validate the Coast Guard's estimates for future acquisition needs.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) deficit reduction efforts will create substantial pressure on the Coast Guard's budget; (2) by FY 2002, the Coast Guard is projected to have a gap of as much as $493 million between OMB's budget target and the estimated cost of maintaining services at current levels; (3) eliminating a gap of this size means that by FY 2002, the Coast Guard would need to identify cuts in operating expenses of $363 million and defer a substantial portion of its budget to replace or modernize its aging ships, aircraft, and facilities through FY 2002, according to OMB and Coast Guard estimates; (4) whether the Guard can close the gap with its current budget strategy is highly uncertain and is likely to remain so for some time: (5) Coast Guard managers have acknowledged the task's enormity, but have not yet fully developed an approach or a specific plan for addressing the task; (6) agency managers have begun to strengthen planning and budgeting processes, but these changes will not be fully in place for a year or more, and their usefulness in addressing immediate needs for reductions is unclear; (7) in the meantime, the Coast Guard continues to rely heavily on its past strategy, which focuses almost exclusively on cutting costs through greater efficiency; (8) while this strategy has yielded savings of about $343 million, achieving OMB's targets will be a much more difficult challenge; (9) the gap's sheer size and the dwindling number of available efficiency-related options mean that in developing its plan for meeting OMB's budget targets, the Coast Guard may have to reexamine its current focus; (10) GAO's past work shows that when private-sector and public organizations have successfully faced fiscal constraints like the Coast Guard's, they have done so through a much broader approach that includes the consideration of alternatives; (12) except for the recent streamlining program, the Coast Guard has relatively incomplete knowledge about the savings that it can anticipate in the next several years from cost-saving steps that are in various stages of implementation; (13) as a result, the agency does not know the degree to which these steps would close future funding gaps; (14) in addition, the Coast Guard may have to consider measures that call for considerable change in its operating culture or that stir public opposition; and (15) fully addressing such options may require further study or new implemen* https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-110/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-110.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-110/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-110.pdf GAO/RCED-97-110 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-97-110 Other Written Product GAO/RCED-97-110; Coast Guard: Challenges for Addressing Budget Constraints; Deficit reduction Marine safety Budget cuts Strategic planning Cost control Mission budgeting User fees Future budget projections Presidential budgets Base closures Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Aquatic Resources Trust Fund Coast Guard National Plan for Streamlining Coast Guard Capital Investment Plan Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service 2000 Program Volume 38 Page 800-802 38 Stat. 800-802 Volume 80 Page 931 80 Stat. 931 Volume 108 Page 111 108 Stat. 111 Public Law 89-670 Public Law 103-62 Public Law 103-226