Coast Guard Shore Infrastructure: Project Backlogs Reportedly Exceed $7 Billion

What GAO Found

The Coast Guard has nearly 40,000 shore infrastructure assets that include boat stations, piers, and buildings from which it carries out operations. In its internal annual 2023 report on its shore infrastructure, the Coast Guard rated the overall condition of its shore infrastructure as “mediocre to fair” and found that nearly half of these assets were operating beyond their expected service life, as shown in figure 1.

Information on Coast Guard Shore Infrastructure as of Fiscal Year 2023

The Coast Guard faces a growing backlog of shore infrastructure projects that will cost at least $7 billion to address as of June 2024, according to Coast Guard data. Years of deferred maintenance have contributed to the backlog’s growth, according to Coast Guard officials. However, the President’s budget requests for the Coast Guard’s shore infrastructure from FY 2019 to FY 2025 have not included funding levels that the Coast Guard has identified would meet its targets. As we have previously reported, the gaps between budget requests and funding targets for shore infrastructure have persisted for years.

In 2019, GAO made six recommendations to help the Coast Guard better manage its shore infrastructure by improving its condition assessments and its budget-related data reporting, among other things. As of February 2025, the Coast Guard has fully addressed two of those recommendations and taken steps toward addressing three of them. For example, in response to GAO’s previous recommendations, the Coast Guard is in the process of systematically assessing the condition of its shore infrastructure. However, it has not yet fully implemented tools and analyses, such as models to predict investment outcomes, analyze trade-offs, and make resource decisions, that could help reduce the costs of maintaining its shore infrastructure. One recommendation remains unaddressed—that the Coast Guard include supporting details about competing project alternatives and report trade-offs in congressional budget requests and related reports. Coast Guard officials said they are considering publishing annual reports that provide key information about the Coast Guard’s shore infrastructure assets as a step towards addressing this recommendation.

Fully addressing all six of GAO’s 2019 recommendations could help the Coast Guard more efficiently manage existing resources, including to reduce costs and position the Coast Guard and Congress with better information to address shore infrastructure challenges.

Why GAO Did This Study

The Coast Guard’s mission is to protect and defend over 100,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. The scope of shore infrastructure extends beyond piers and lighthouses. It includes housing units, training centers, and command centers that direct Coast Guard missions. The Coast Guard faces multiple backlogs of shore infrastructure projects that have more than doubled in amount since GAO’s 2019 report. GAO was asked to review issues related to Coast Guard shore infrastructure. This testimony summarizes our February 2025 report entitled Coast Guard Shore Infrastructure: More Than $7 Billion Reportedly Needed to Address Deteriorating Assets and focuses on three areas: (1) the condition of Coast Guard shore infrastructure, (2) reported project backlogs, and (3) budget transparency to address Coast Guard funding targets.

To inform our report we reviewed Coast Guard documentation, analyzed data, and interviewed agency officials. More detailed information on the scope and methodology of our work can be found in our February 2025 report.

For more information, contact Heather MacLeod at (202) 512-8777 or macleodh@gao.gov.