Coast Guard
Efforts to Identify Arctic Requirements Are Ongoing, but More Communication about Agency Planning Efforts Would Be Beneficial
Gao ID: GAO-10-870 September 15, 2010
The retreat of Arctic sea ice combined with expected increasing human activity in the area--in shipping traffic and oil and gas exploration--has increased the strategic interest that the United States and other nations have in the Arctic. As a result, the Coast Guard is expected to acquire increased responsibilities in the region. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which the Coast Guard is: (1) coordinating with stakeholders on Arctic issues and operations and what, if any, further opportunities exist to enhance coordination; (2) taking action to identify requirements for future Arctic operations; and (3) taking steps to identify and mitigate challenges to meet current and future Arctic requirements. GAO reviewed Coast Guard documents that described efforts to plan for increased Arctic activity. GAO conducted a site visit to Alaska and interviewed federal officials, Alaska state officials, Alaska Native stakeholders, as well as private or nonprofit organizations representing Arctic interests. These observations are not generalizable, but provided insights on Coast Guard activities and actions.
The Coast Guard coordinates with an array of stakeholders--foreign, federal, state, and local governments; Alaska Native interest groups; and private and nonprofit entities--on Arctic policy and operational issues, but some stakeholders want more information on the agency's Arctic planning efforts. Many local and Alaska Native officials praised the Coast Guard's coordination efforts on its summer Arctic operations, for example. However, 9 of the 15 state and local officials GAO met with wanted more information on the status and results of the Coast Guard's efforts to develop its future Arctic requirements. For example, some state and local officials believed that the agency had already determined its plan for Arctic operations but had not shared it, and one state official reported that his office and others may be willing to invest in infrastructure that could benefit the Coast Guard if and when they know the agency's plans. Coast Guard officials told us that they have been focused on communication with congressional and federal stakeholders and intend to share Arctic plans with other stakeholders once determined. In the interim, some state and local stakeholders reported having limited information that they believe would be useful on the process and progress of the agency's Arctic planning efforts. As a result, the Coast Guard could be missing an opportunity to create shared expectations and report on its progress with stakeholders central to future Arctic operations. The Coast Guard has taken specific action to identify Arctic requirements and gaps while also collecting relevant information from routine operations. The High Latitude Study is the centerpiece of the agency's efforts to determine its Arctic requirements. The Coast Guard has also established temporary operating locations in the Arctic and conducted biweekly Arctic overflights to obtain more information on the Arctic operating environment. In addition, information gathered during the Coast Guard's routine missions--ice breaking, search and rescue, and others--also informs requirements. The agency's preliminary efforts to identify its Arctic requirements generally align with key practices for agencies defining missions and desired outcomes. The Coast Guard faces Arctic challenges including limited information, minimal assets and infrastructure, personnel issues, and difficult planning and funding decisions, but is taking initial steps to address these challenges. Specifically, the Coast Guard does not currently have Arctic maritime domain awareness--a full understanding of variables that could affect the security, safety, economy, or environment in the Arctic--but is acquiring additional Arctic vessel tracking data, among other things, to address this issue. In addition, the Coast Guard's Arctic assets and infrastructure are limited and not suitable for the harsh environment, but the agency is testing equipment and using alternative options to mitigate gaps. Finally, the Coast Guard faces uncertainty over the timing of predicted environmental changes in the Arctic, as well as over future funding streams. To address these challenges the Coast Guard obtains scientific data on Arctic climate change and is studying its Arctic resource requirements to support potential future funding needs. GAO recommends that the Coast Guard communicate with key stakeholders on the process and progress of its Arctic planning efforts. DHS concurred with our recommendation.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Stephen L. Caldwell
Team:
Government Accountability Office: Homeland Security and Justice
Phone:
(202) 512-9610
GAO-10-870, Coast Guard: Efforts to Identify Arctic Requirements Are Ongoing, but More Communication about Agency Planning Efforts Would Be Beneficial
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Report to Congressional Requesters:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
September 2010:
Coast Guard:
Efforts to Identify Arctic Requirements Are Ongoing, but More
Communication about Agency Planning Efforts Would Be Beneficial:
GAO-10-870:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-10-870, a report to congressional requesters.
Why GAO Did This Study:
The retreat of Arctic sea ice combined with expected increasing human
activity in the area––in shipping traffic and oil and gas exploration––
has increased the strategic interest that the United States and other
nations have in the Arctic. As a result, the Coast Guard is expected
to acquire increased responsibilities in the region. GAO was asked to
examine the extent to which the Coast Guard is: (1) coordinating with
stakeholders on Arctic issues and operations and what, if any, further
opportunities exist to enhance coordination; (2) taking action to
identify requirements for future Arctic operations; and (3) taking
steps to identify and mitigate challenges to meet current and future
Arctic requirements. GAO reviewed Coast Guard documents that described
efforts to plan for increased Arctic activity. GAO conducted a site
visit to Alaska and interviewed federal officials, Alaska state
officials, Alaska Native stakeholders, as well as private or nonprofit
organizations representing Arctic interests. These observations are
not generalizable, but provided insights on Coast Guard activities and
actions.
What GAO Found:
The Coast Guard coordinates with an array of stakeholders”foreign,
federal, state, and local governments; Alaska Native interest groups;
and private and nonprofit entities”on Arctic policy and operational
issues, but some stakeholders want more information on the agency‘s
Arctic planning efforts. Many local and Alaska Native officials
praised the Coast Guard‘s coordination efforts on its summer Arctic
operations, for example. However, 9 of the 15 state and local
officials GAO met with wanted more information on the status and
results of the Coast Guard‘s efforts to develop its future Arctic
requirements. For example, some state and local officials believed
that the agency had already determined its plan for Arctic operations
but had not shared it, and one state official reported that his office
and others may be willing to invest in infrastructure that could
benefit the Coast Guard if and when they know the agency‘s plans.
Coast Guard officials told us that they have been focused on
communication with congressional and federal stakeholders and intend
to share Arctic plans with other stakeholders once determined. In the
interim, some state and local stakeholders reported having limited
information that they believe would be useful on the process and
progress of the agency‘s Arctic planning efforts. As a result, the
Coast Guard could be missing an opportunity to create shared
expectations and report on its progress with stakeholders central to
future Arctic operations.
The Coast Guard has taken specific action to identify Arctic
requirements and gaps while also collecting relevant information from
routine operations. The High Latitude Study is the centerpiece of the
agency‘s efforts to determine its Arctic requirements. The Coast Guard
has also established temporary operating locations in the Arctic and
conducted biweekly Arctic overflights to obtain more information on
the Arctic operating environment. In addition, information gathered
during the Coast Guard‘s routine missions––ice breaking, search and
rescue, and others––also informs requirements. The agency‘s
preliminary efforts to identify its Arctic requirements generally
align with key practices for agencies defining missions and desired
outcomes.
The Coast Guard faces Arctic challenges including limited information,
minimal assets and infrastructure, personnel issues, and difficult
planning and funding decisions, but is taking initial steps to address
these challenges. Specifically, the Coast Guard does not currently
have Arctic maritime domain awareness––a full understanding of
variables that could affect the security, safety, economy, or
environment in the Arctic––but is acquiring additional Arctic vessel
tracking data, among other things, to address this issue. In addition,
the Coast Guard‘s Arctic assets and infrastructure are limited and not
suitable for the harsh environment, but the agency is testing
equipment and using alternative options to mitigate gaps. Finally, the
Coast Guard faces uncertainty over the timing of predicted
environmental changes in the Arctic, as well as over future funding
streams. To address these challenges the Coast Guard obtains
scientific data on Arctic climate change and is studying its Arctic
resource requirements to support potential future funding needs.
What GAO Recommends:
GAO recommends that the Coast Guard communicate with key stakeholders
on the process and progress of its Arctic planning efforts. DHS
concurred with our recommendation.
View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-870] or key
components. For more information, contact Stephen L. Caldwell at (202)
512-9610 or caldwells@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Background:
The Coast Guard Coordinates with Many Stakeholders but Some Want More
Information on the Agency's Ongoing Arctic Planning and Future
Approach:
The Coast Guard Is Taking Action to Identify Future Arctic
Requirements While Routine Operations Provide Other Valuable
Information:
The Coast Guard Faces Numerous Challenges to Current and Future Arctic
Operations:
Conclusions:
Recommendation for Executive Action:
Agency Comments:
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
Appendix II: Examples of State, Local, and Alaska Native Stakeholders
Operating in the Arctic:
Appendix III: Examples of Coast Guard Coordination with Key Federal,
State, Local, Alaska Native, and Private Sector Stakeholders:
Appendix IV: Select Interagency Coordination Efforts Related to Arctic
Policy:
Appendix V: Coast Guard's Routine Arctic Operations That Also Inform
Future Requirements:
Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Related GAO Products:
Tables:
Table 1: Key Federal Agencies Also Operating in the Arctic:
Table 2: Examples of State, Local, and Alaska Native Stakeholders
Operating in the Arctic:
Table 3: Examples of Coast Guard Coordination with Key Federal, State,
Local, Alaska Native, and Private Sector Stakeholders in the Arctic:
Table 4: Select Interagency Coordination Efforts Related to Arctic
Policy:
Figures:
Figure 1: Map of the State of Alaska Superimposed on the Lower 48
States:
Figure 2: Map of the Arctic Boundary as Defined by the Arctic Research
and Policy Act:
Figure 3: U.S. Coast Guard's Healy and the Canadian Coast Guard's
Louis S. St. Laurent on a Joint Mission in the Arctic:
Figure 4: A Coast Guard HC-130 Aircraft on an Arctic Domain Awareness
Flight in May 2009 above Kivalina, Alaska:
Figure 5: A Response Boat in Arctic Waters Off of Barrow, Alaska:
Figure 6: The Grounding of the Vessel Selendang Ayu in the Aleutian
Chain:
Abbreviations:
AIS: Automatic Information System:
BOEMRE: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement:
CMTS: Committee on the Marine Transportation System:
DHS: Department of Homeland Security:
DOD: Department of Defense DOT Department of Transportation:
EEZ: Exclusive Economic Zone:
FMP: Fishery Management Plan:
IMO: International Maritime Organization:
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
NSF: National Science Foundation:
NSIDC: National Snow and Ice Data Center:
NSPD-66/HSPD-25: National Security Presidential Directive 66/Homeland
Security Presidential Directive 25:
UNCLOS: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea:
USARC: United States Arctic Research Commission:
[End of section]
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
September 15, 2010:
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson:
Chairman:
Committee on Homeland Security:
House of Representatives:
The Honorable Don Young:
House of Representatives:
The retreat of sea ice combined with an expected increase in human
activity--shipping traffic and oil and gas exploration--has increased
the strategic interest that the United States and other nations have
in the Arctic region. The region's strategic value was further
underscored by a 2008 United States Geological Survey study which
stated that the extensive Arctic continental shelves may constitute
the world's largest unexplored prospective area for petroleum.
[Footnote 1] As a result of these and other anticipated changes in the
Arctic, the U.S. Coast Guard is expected to face increasing
responsibilities in the waters off of Alaska's 44,000 miles of coast.
According to Coast Guard officials, some of the Coast Guard's 11
statutory missions will take on particular importance including
Fisheries Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Marine Environmental
Protection, and Aids to Navigation mission areas. In addition, the
Coast Guard, through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has
been tasked with specific Arctic policy objectives set forth in
National Security Presidential Directive 66/Homeland Security
Presidential Directive 25 (NSPD-66/HSPD-25)--a January 2009 directive
which outlines national Arctic policy and tasks senior officials,
including the Secretary of Homeland Security, with its implementation.
The Coast Guard currently has limited capacity to operate in the
waters below the Arctic Circle--the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Chain--
and increasing responsibilities in an even larger geographic area,
especially in the harsh and remote conditions of the northern Arctic,
will further stretch the agency's capacity.[Footnote 2] Presently, all
of the Coast Guard's assets are based well below the Arctic Circle, so
Coast Guard operations above the Arctic Circle are constrained by
several factors, including the time required for surface vessels and
aircraft to cover vast distances to reach the Arctic Circle. When the
Coast Guard is able to respond to an incident, its surface and air
assets are limited by fuel capacity and the distance to fuel sources.
As a result, Coast Guard cutters (non icebreakers) and aircraft are
only able to operate for a few days or a few hours on scene before
returning for fuel. Figure 1 compares the State of Alaska to the lower
48 states to illustrate the large distances between, for example,
Kodiak (the Coast Guard's northernmost air station) and Point Barrow
(the northernmost point of land in Alaska).
Figure 1: Map of the State of Alaska Superimposed on the Lower 48
States:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustration]
The map depicts the following areas of the State of Alaska:
Attu;
Barrow;
Cold Bay;
Cordova;
Dutch Harbor;
Juneau;
Ketchikan;
Kodiak;
Nome;
St. Paul.
Source: Coast Guard.
[End of figure]
The Coast Guard has started exploring how to manage these and other
challenges to Arctic operations and we were asked to review the
agency's initial efforts to prepare for increasing Arctic activity.
Specifically, this report addresses the extent to which the Coast
Guard is: (1) coordinating with stakeholders on Arctic issues and
operations and what, if any, further opportunities exist to enhance
coordination; (2) taking action to identify its requirements for
future Arctic operations; and (3) taking steps to identify and
mitigate Arctic challenges to meet current and future Arctic
requirements.
To gather information for all three objectives we interviewed public
and private sector representatives with Arctic operations or interests
on: stakeholder coordination; Coast Guard action to identify future
requirements; and Coast Guard efforts to overcome Arctic-related
challenges. Specifically, we:
* interviewed headquarters-based officials from the Coast Guard and
other federal entities--National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Arctic
Research Commission, and the Departments of State, Defense, and
Commerce, among others;
* conducted a site visit to Alaska to interview field-based officials
from the Coast Guard and six other federal departments and agencies
with operations in the Arctic, three Alaska state departments, one
Alaska Native interest group, and six private or nonprofit
organizations representing various Arctic interests; and:
* conducted additional interviews by phone and in person with
representatives from other federal, state, local, Alaska Native, and
private and nonprofit sector stakeholders and the International
Maritime Organization (IMO).
To determine the extent to which the Coast Guard is coordinating with
Arctic stakeholders and if additional coordination opportunities
exist, we interviewed the above noted stakeholders due to their
presence or involvement in the Arctic, reported interaction with the
Coast Guard, and based on the recommendations of other Arctic
stakeholders. Since we selected a nonprobability sample of Arctic
stakeholders, the information obtained from these interviews cannot be
generalized to all stakeholders but does provide for a broad overview
of the types of Coast Guard coordination taking place on Arctic
issues. We also reviewed documentation of the Coast Guard's Arctic
coordination such as memorandums of understanding, Coast Guard records
of contact with Alaska Native interest groups, and after-action
reports. To assess the Coast Guard's interagency coordination on
Arctic policy issues we identified how, if at all, each effort aligned
with key practices we have identified for enhancing and sustaining
interagency coordination. We also reviewed the Coast Guard's
interagency coordination efforts against criteria in Standards for
Internal Control in the Federal Government related to effective
characteristics of program management.[Footnote 3] We did not evaluate
the effectiveness of each interagency coordination effort but simply
identified the key practices each effort is structured to address.
To determine the steps that the Coast Guard is taking to identify its
future Arctic requirements we interviewed headquarters officials, as
well as field-based Coast Guard District and Sector officials
responsible for all Coast Guard operations in the state of Alaska.
[Footnote 4] We also interviewed the above noted stakeholders to
obtain their views on Coast Guard actions and their role in helping
the Coast Guard determine its Arctic mission requirements. We also
reviewed Coast Guard documentation of its efforts to plan for
increased Arctic activity, including documents pertaining to the
agency's ongoing analysis of current and future Arctic mission
requirements and after-action reports. We reviewed our prior work on
key steps and critical practices to implement the Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993[Footnote 5] and determined how the
Coast Guard's preliminary planning efforts align with these.
To determine the extent to which the Coast Guard is taking steps to
identify and mitigate Arctic challenges to meet current and future
Arctic requirements, we interviewed headquarters and field-based Coast
Guard officials to discuss the Arctic operating environment,
challenges to the Coast Guard's Arctic activities, and steps being
taken to mitigate these challenges. We also reviewed Coast Guard
documents such as after-action reports and reports to Congress, as
well as federal and international research reports to distill
additional challenges and factors impacting the Coast Guard's Arctic
operations.
We conducted this performance audit from September 2009 to September
2010 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. See
appendix I for a more detailed description of our scope and
methodology.
Background:
Receding Ice Opens Potential for Increased Commerce in the Arctic:
Scientific explanations and projections of the changes taking place in
the Arctic vary, but there is a general consensus that Arctic sea ice
is diminishing. As recently as August 2010 scientists at the U.S.
National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that the average Arctic sea
ice extent for July was the second lowest in the satellite record.
[Footnote 6] Much of the Arctic Ocean remains ice-covered for a
majority of the year, but some scientists have projected that the
Arctic will be ice-diminished in the summer by as soon as 2040.
[Footnote 7]
These environmental changes in the Arctic are making maritime transit
more feasible and are increasing the likelihood of human activity
including tourism, oil and gas extraction, commercial shipping, and
fishing in the region. For example, a 2008 United States Geologic
Survey study estimated that areas north of the Arctic Circle contained
90 billion barrels of oil; 1,700 trillion cubic feet of natural gas;
and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquid. Until May 2010, the
Shell Oil Company was scheduled to begin exploratory drilling off the
Northwest coast of Alaska in July of 2010.[Footnote 8] According to
industry officials, such drilling operations could result in
additional vessel activity in northern Alaska and the Arctic Marine
Shipping Assessment also stated that future commercial shipping
activities are likely to grow with the extraction of resources such as
oil, gas, and ore. While resource extraction activities are expected
to increase, commercial fishing will likely not occur above the Arctic
Circle in the near term due to a U.S. decision in November 2009 to
close 150,000 square nautical miles of U.S. Arctic waters to
commercial fishing until sufficient information is available to
support the sustainable management of a commercial fishery.[Footnote 9]
Varying Definitions of the Arctic Are Used:
Not all Arctic stakeholders define the "Arctic" geographical area the
same way. The U.S. Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 defines the
term "Arctic" broadly to include the Bering Sea and Aleutian Chain,
while others define the "Arctic" more narrowly as the area above the
Arctic Circle. The broader definition of the Arctic adds about 2
million square kilometers of territory not included in the narrower
definition of the Arctic. Figure 2 illustrates the Arctic boundary as
defined by the Arctic Research and Policy Act and also shows the
Arctic Circle line of latitude.
Figure 2: Map of the Arctic Boundary as Defined by the Arctic Research
and Policy Act:
[Refer to PDF for image: map]
Source: Created by the National Science Foundation for the U.S. Arctic
Research Commission.
[End of figure]
International Conventions and Organizations Facilitate International
Collaboration in the Arctic:
There are several international conventions and organizations that
guide international collaboration in the Arctic. One of the key
Conventions--the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS)--has become the subject of greater focus as Arctic sea ice
diminishes. UNCLOS, which entered into force in November 1994,
addresses all aspects of ocean space including, among other things,
economic and commercial activities, environmental control, and
settlement of disputes relating to ocean matters for those countries
that have ratified the convention. In general, UNCLOS provides that
any coastal nation that has acceded to the Convention can make a claim
to certain continental shelf rights including oil and gas that are
discovered on its continental shelf beyond its 200 nautical mile
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).[Footnote 10] An UNCLOS subcommittee is
to consider and approve nations' outer continental shelf land claims.
However, the United States has signed but not ratified this Convention
and therefore is not able to submit claims under the convention's
provisions at this time.
Since 1996, international Arctic cooperation has taken place in the
Arctic Council, an organization of the eight Arctic states (United
States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and
Sweden), six Permanent Participant groups (indigenous peoples'
organizations), and observers which include international
organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and non-Arctic
states.[Footnote 11] The council and its bodies focus on environmental
and sustainable development issues, but the council has no regulatory
authority or treaty responsibilities. However, the council does issue
guidelines for Arctic operations and studies such as the Arctic Marine
Shipping Assessment. In addition to the Arctic Council, the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted broad mandatory
safety guidelines, as well as more specific voluntary guidelines for
ships transiting the Arctic.[Footnote 12]
The United States Has Regulations and Policies That Govern Arctic
Operations:
The United States has obligations that apply to Arctic operations
including overarching national policies, as well as more specific
maritime policies and authorities. NSPD-66/HSPD-25 reflects current
U.S. Arctic policy and is therefore key among these policies. The
Coast Guard's role in the Arctic was implicated in this directive,
which acknowledges the effects of climate change and increased human
activity in the Arctic region, lays out specific policy objectives and
federal partners, and reaffirms the importance of Alaska Native
consultation in policy decisions.[Footnote 13] In addition to NSPD-
66/HSPD-25, Executive Order 13175 also plays a key role in U.S. Arctic
operations. Executive Order 13175 requires federal agencies to involve
Indian tribal governments, such as certain Arctic indigenous
communities in Alaska, in decisions that affect them.[Footnote 14]
Finally, since the Arctic region is primarily a maritime domain,
existing policies and authorities relating to maritime areas continue
to apply.
The Coast Guard Is the Primary Federal Maritime Agency in the Arctic,
but Multiple Stakeholders Also Have Arctic Responsibilities:
Since the Arctic is primarily a maritime domain, the Coast Guard plays
a significant role in Arctic policy implementation and enforcement.
The Coast Guard is a multimission, maritime military service within
the DHS that has responsibilities including maritime safety, security,
environmental protection, and national defense, among other
missions.[Footnote 15] Therefore, as more navigable ocean water
emerges in the Arctic and human activity increases, the Coast Guard
will face expanding responsibilities in the region. Other federal
agencies also have responsibilities in the Arctic. See table 1 for
other key federal agencies and their roles in the Arctic.
Table 1: Key Federal Agencies Also Operating in the Arctic:
Federal agency: Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA);
Arctic responsibilities: NOAA (1) provides information on Arctic
oceanic and atmospheric conditions (such as clouds, atmospheric
temperature, tides, currents, bathymetry, and ice conditions);
(2) issues weather and ice forecasts; (3) provides fisheries
management and enforcement; (4) is responsible for the protection of
endangered marine species, habitat restoration, and natural resource
damage assessment (such as after oil spills); (5) develops and
maintains nautical charts; (6) provides information on the climate;
and (7) is responsible for the protection of marine mammals, including
participation in co-management activities with Alaska Native
organizations for species that are the focus of subsistence harvests.
Federal agency: Department of Defense (DOD);
Arctic responsibilities: DOD is responsible in the Arctic and
elsewhere for securing the United States from direct attack; securing
strategic access and retaining global freedom of action; strengthening
existing and emerging alliances and partnerships; and establishing
favorable security conditions. DOD is responsible for underwater
navigation and some vessel tracking. Additionally, the Navy has
developed an "Arctic Roadmap" which lists Navy action items,
objectives, and desired effects for the Arctic region from fiscal year
2010 to 2014. Focus areas include training, communications,
operational investments, and environmental protection.
Federal agency: Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE);
Arctic responsibilities: BOEMRE is responsible for approving leases
for resource development projects in Arctic waters; oversight and
regulation of offshore oil and gas operations; review and approval of
oil spill response plans; and verification of operational and response
capabilities. The bureau also funds ocean research through the
Environmental Studies Program to provide science in support of
management decisions.
Federal agency: Department of State (State Department);
Arctic responsibilities: State Department is responsible for
formulating and implementing U.S. policy on international issues
concerning the oceans, the Arctic, and Antarctica. The department also
leads the domestic interagency Arctic Policy Group and U.S.
participation in the Arctic Council.
Federal agency: Department of Transportation (DOT);
Arctic responsibilities: DOT provided financial support for the Arctic
Marine Shipping Assessment and one of DOT's component agencies, the
Maritime Administration, works on Arctic transportation and shipping
issues, among other things.
Federal agency: National Science Foundation (NSF);
Arctic responsibilities: NSF is responsible for funding U.S. Arctic
research--including research on the causes and impacts of climate
change--and provides associated logistics and infrastructure support
to conduct this research. NSF and the Coast Guard also coordinate on
the use of the Coast Guard's icebreakers for scientific research.
Federal agency: U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC);
Arctic responsibilities: USARC is responsible for, among other things,
developing and establishing an integrated national arctic research
policy that guides federal agencies in developing and implementing
their Arctic research programs. In addition, USARC biennially
publishes a "Report on Goals and Objectives for Arctic Research."
Source: GAO.
[End of table]
State and local governments, Alaska Native tribal governments and
other Alaska Native interest groups, private industry, and nonprofit
groups are also important Arctic stakeholders. State government is
involved in, among other things, Arctic fishery enforcement, oil spill
planning and response, emergency management, and economic development.
Local governments, Alaska Native tribal governments, and Alaska Native
interest groups are in some cases the closest stakeholders to
activities taking place in the Arctic. Consequently, the
responsibility for responding to Arctic incidents often falls to local
governments. For example, the North Slope Borough, which encompasses
about 89,000 square miles of northern Alaska, maintains its own search
and rescue capabilities including fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
Additionally, Alaska Native communities have inhabited the Arctic
region for thousands of years and have cultures that are particularly
sensitive to changes in the environment due to subsistence lifestyles
revolving around marine ecosystems. Finally, private sector and
nonprofit groups are also important Arctic stakeholders. These groups
cover a wide spectrum of interests, including resource extraction
companies, cruise lines, vessel tracking organizations, and
conservation groups, among others. See appendix II for a description
of some of the state, local, and Alaska Native Arctic stakeholders.
The Coast Guard Coordinates with Many Stakeholders but Some Want More
Information on the Agency's Ongoing Arctic Planning and Future
Approach:
The Coast Guard Coordinates and Collaborates with Foreign Governments
on Arctic Policy Issues:
The Coast Guard has been actively involved in both multilateral and
bilateral Arctic coordination efforts with foreign governments. The
multilateral efforts have often concerned Arctic-wide operational
issues while the bilateral efforts have related to specific
operational issues between the United States and an Arctic neighbor.
One example of a multilateral effort is the Coast Guard's role as the
primary U.S. representative to the IMO for policy development. For the
past few years the Coast Guard has advocated for IMO's voluntary
Guidelines for Ships Operating in Arctic-Ice Covered Waters to be
changed to mandatory requirements for ships operating in both Arctic
and Antarctic waters to enhance maritime safety in the regions.
[Footnote 16] In another example of multilateral collaboration, the
Coast Guard participates in two Arctic Council working groups under
the leadership of the State Department and is the U.S. Head of
Delegation for the Council's Search and Rescue Task Force.[Footnote
17] In this role, the Coast Guard is the U.S. government lead in
multilateral negotiations on a proposed SAR agreement among the eight
Arctic Council nations to establish primary responsibility for
aeronautical and maritime search and rescue services within the Arctic.
The Coast Guard has also engaged in bilateral coordination and
collaboration with other Arctic nations. For example, since the summer
of 2008 the Coast Guard has collaborated with the Canadian Coast Guard
on joint extended continental shelf surveys in support of the State
Department-led interagency Extended Continental Shelf Task Force.
During these joint expeditions one U.S and one Canadian icebreaker
have conducted joint extended continental survey expeditions to
collect seismic and bathymetric data that both countries could use as
the foundation for potential future extended continental shelf land
claims in the Arctic.[Footnote 18] According to the Extended
Continental Shelf Task Force, this collaboration between the United
States and Canada saves millions of dollars for both nations, provides
data both nations need, ensures that data are collected only once in
the same area, and increases scientific and diplomatic cooperation.
Figure 3 shows these two icebreakers working together on a mapping
cruise in September 2009. In July 2010 the State Department announced
plans to conduct this joint operation again in 2010.
Figure 3: U.S. Coast Guard's Healy and the Canadian Coast Guard's
Louis S. St. Laurent on a Joint Mission in the Arctic:
[Refer to PDF for image: photograph]
Source: Coast Guard.
[End of figure]
Another example of the Coast Guard's bilateral coordination and
collaboration with the Canadian government is the Joint Marine
Pollution Contingency Plan for Canada and the United States. This plan
was designed to enhance cooperation and standardize response
procedures between the two nations with respect to an oil or hazardous
substance release. The two countries have conducted joint tabletop
exercises of the plan five times since 1998 and most recently in
Anchorage in March 2010. The purpose of this latest exercise--entitled
CANUSNORTH 2010--was to simulate a joint response to an oil spill on
the United States-Canada border in the Arctic. The Coast Guard also
has a long-standing collaborative relationship with the Russian Border
Guard.[Footnote 19] Coast Guard District 17 officials told us that
they exchange visits with Russian Border Guard officials every 6
months in an effort to facilitate communication between the United
States and Russia, particularly on fisheries and increasingly on
Arctic issues. According to the Coast Guard District 17 Commander,
communication between the two countries has improved as a result. For
example, in May 2009, when Alaska Native hunters crossed the maritime
boundary into Russia, the Coast Guard and Russian Border Guard worked
cooperatively to ensure the hunters returned safely to the United
States. The two countries have also worked cooperatively to respond to
illegal fishing along the maritime boundary between the United States
and Russia in the Bering Sea.
The Coast Guard Coordinates with Federal Agencies on Arctic Operations
and Uses Key Practices to Collaborate on Arctic Policy:
The Coast Guard coordinates with other federal agencies to leverage
federal resources and expertise for Arctic operations. Officials at
all nine of the federal agencies we met with reported partnering with
the Coast Guard on Arctic operations--although some were much more
involved with Coast Guard Arctic operations than others. For example,
NOAA, as the federal authority on oceanic and atmospheric data,
reported providing the Coast Guard with aviation, surface, and marine
weather forecasts and warnings; nautical charts and real-time
oceanographic data (such as ice concentration and type); and satellite-
aided data--information which, according to Coast Guard officials, is
critical to the Coast Guard's search and rescue operations.[Footnote
20] In addition, officials at NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service
reported collaborating with the Coast Guard on oversight and
enforcement of Arctic fisheries. The Coast Guard also collaborates
with NSF to manage the nation's icebreaker fleet, including scheduling
icebreaker time for research activities.[Footnote 21] Appendix III
describes additional examples of the Coast Guard's operational
coordination with other federal Arctic stakeholders.
The Coast Guard is also involved in several interagency coordination
efforts relating to Arctic policy that address aspects of key
practices we have previously identified to help enhance and sustain
collaboration among federal agencies. Our previous work has shown that
federal agencies can enhance and sustain their collaborative efforts
by engaging in eight key practices: (1) define and articulate a common
outcome; (2) establish mutually reinforcing or joint strategies; (3)
identify and address needs by leveraging resources; (4) agree on roles
and responsibilities; (5) establish means of operating across agency
boundaries; (6) develop mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on
results; (7) reinforce agency accountability for collaborative efforts
through agency plans and reports; and (8) reinforce individual
accountability for collaborative efforts through performance
management systems.[Footnote 22] The following are some of the
interagency coordination efforts the Coast Guard has been or is part
of and the key practices that they address:
* NSPD-66/HSPD-25 established the policy of the United States with
respect to the Arctic region and specified implementation actions to
be taken by federal agencies. The adoption of NSPD-66/HSPD-25
addresses two key practices--defining and articulating a common
outcome and delineating agency roles and responsibilities.
Specifically, the policy clarifies governmentwide policy priorities in
the Arctic and tasks specific heads of departments with the
responsibility to coordinate implementation.
* Another interagency coordination effort involving Coast Guard
participation is the Interagency Policy Committee on the Arctic. The
White House's National Security Staff and Council on Environmental
Quality co-chair this committee, which was created in March 2010. The
committee is an interagency body established to coordinate
governmentwide implementation of NSPD-66/HSPD-25. According to Coast
Guard and State Department officials, one of the committee's first
tasks was to compile information from all relevant agencies on their
activities in support of NSPD-66/HSPD-25; the compilation is
considered an active document that National Security Staff will use to
track progress and identify policy implementation gaps. Coast Guard
officials reported that this committee is a great forum for federal
agencies to identify opportunities for collaboration. This interagency
coordination effort addresses aspects of key practices we have
previously identified including: identifying and addressing needs by
leveraging resources; developing mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and
report on results; and reinforcing agency accountability for
collaborative efforts through agency plans and reports.
* The establishment of mutually reinforcing or joint strategies and
plans between the Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy demonstrates another
Coast Guard interagency coordination effort. For example, in October
2007 the Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and U.S Marine Corps published a
unified maritime strategy which stressed the importance of an
unprecedented level of integration among maritime forces and enhanced
cooperation in light of the changes taking place in the Arctic, among
other challenges.[Footnote 23] In addition, the Coast Guard and U.S.
Navy have worked collaboratively to develop their respective Arctic
roadmaps--the Navy published its roadmap in November 2009 and, as of
July 2010, Coast Guard officials reported that their Arctic Roadmap
was in final draft form and undergoing senior level agency review. The
Navy's Arctic roadmap lays out specific action items, objectives, and
desired effects for the Arctic region from fiscal years 2010 through
2014 and identifies areas for collaboration with the Coast Guard
throughout. Coast Guard officials report that their agency's Arctic
Roadmap is specifically responsive to the directives in NSPD-66--
laying out the six principle objectives of NSPD-66 and drilling down
to a list of specific action items for various Coast Guard offices.
* Finally, the Coast Guard and the Navy have made efforts to establish
compatible policies, procedures, and other means to operate across
boundaries--another key practice we have identified to enhance
interagency collaboration. The Coast Guard and the Navy have numerous
agreements and policies governing interagency collaboration including
the National Strategy for Maritime Security and its supporting plans
and the National Defense Strategy.[Footnote 24] The two agencies also
have a long-standing memorandum of agreement regarding the use of the
Nation's icebreakers--the Coast Guard operates the nation's
icebreakers and uses them, when needed, to support the Navy.[Footnote
25] The Navy's Arctic Roadmap identifies further opportunities to
improve collaboration with the Coast Guard. For example, it identifies
the need to revisit existing agreements, or form new ones, concerning
interoperability and collaborative efforts in the Arctic including
operations, training, and common investments to achieve economies of
scale. The Navy's Arctic Roadmap also describes plans to investigate
command, control, communications, computers, intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance interoperability with the Coast Guard
in anticipation of increased joint operations in the region.
The Coast Guard is also involved in numerous other interagency
coordination efforts related to the Arctic. See appendix IV for
descriptions of other select interagency coordination efforts and how
they address key practices.
The Coast Guard Coordinates with State and Local Governments on
Operational Issues:
The Coast Guard coordinates with state and local governments on issues
related to Arctic operations.[Footnote 26] For example, Coast Guard
officials report regular communication with Alaska state agencies on
common missions such as with the Department of Fish and Game on
fisheries enforcement; the Department of Natural Resources on
regulatory inspections of oil and gas vessels, coastal management, and
boating safety; and the Department of Environmental Conservation on
oil spill prevention and response. Additionally, state officials
report that regularly scheduled meetings such as the Coast Guard's
bimonthly teleconferences with Alaska Department of Fish and Game and
the Alaska Wildlife Troopers serve as an opportunity to exchange
information and assist each other with logistical and operational
challenges. Local government officials we met with also reported
having open lines of communication with the Coast Guard and noted that
this is particularly important to ensure they are included in
discussions that affect their region. For example, North Slope Borough
officials and the Mayor of Nome reported that the Coast Guard
coordinated closely with them when preparing to conduct summer
operations in the Arctic and attributed the Coast Guard's success in
engaging the Arctic communities to this close coordination in advance
of their operations. Appendix III provides additional examples of
coordination between the Coast Guard and state and local governments.
The Coast Guard Engages Alaska Native Interest Groups to Improve the
Agency's Cultural and Operational Awareness:
Coast Guard officials report that coordination with Alaska Native
governments and interest groups is of utmost importance to gain on-the-
ground information and to enhance the agency's cultural awareness.
[Footnote 27] The Coast Guard Commandant emphasized in August 2009
that the dialogue, collaboration, and lessons learned from Alaska
Native interest groups are essential for safe operations in the
Arctic. As such, the Coast Guard has made outreach to Alaska Native
leaders a key facet of its recent Arctic activities including summer
operations on the North Slope and a summer 2009 visit from several
high ranking White House and agency officials. Both of the Alaska
Native interest groups we interviewed had positive remarks about the
Coast Guard's recent approach to relationship building with the Alaska
Native community. For example, one representative of an Alaska Native
interest group on the North Slope stated that the Coast Guard is a
model agency in how it has interacted with the Alaska Native community
and that the impact of such efforts was greater Coast Guard access to
community knowledge, resources, and support. Another Alaska Native
official representing eight villages on the North Slope of Alaska
stated that he was very impressed with the Coast Guard's approach to
the Alaska Native communities. Appendix III provides examples of
operational coordination between the Coast Guard and Alaska Native
interest groups.
To sustain these outreach efforts with Alaska Natives, the Coast Guard
recently took steps to reinstate a tribal liaison position in District
17. District officials reported that since January 2009, they have had
one half-time tribal liaison billet dedicated to coordination and
outreach with the Alaska Native community. In July 2009, District 17
officials submitted a request to the Commandant seeking a full-time
tribal liaison position. However, Coast Guard officials told us that
the request was not acted upon and, in spring 2010, authority over
this position was transferred to Coast Guard Headquarters and the
position was modified to no longer include tribal liaison duties. In
July 2010, after we discussed this issue with Coast Guard officials,
Pacific Area and the Commandant announced the creation of a full-time
tribal liaison billet to engage Alaska Native communities.
The Coast Guard Uses Formal and Informal Mechanisms to Coordinate with
the Private Sector in the Arctic:
The Coast Guard uses formal and informal mechanisms to coordinate with
a variety of private sector stakeholders in the Arctic including those
with interests in Arctic resource extraction, commercial fishing,
tourism, and shipping. In terms of formal relationships, the Coast
Guard has a contract with the Marine Exchange of Alaska, a nonprofit
vendor of real-time Automatic Information System (AIS) data, to
provide the Coast Guard with data on vessel traffic for certain parts
of Alaska.[Footnote 28] In another example, Coast Guard officials and
oil and gas representatives are advisory board members of the Prince
William Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute, which supports projects
designed to understand and respond to the effects of oil spills in the
Arctic region.
The Coast Guard also coordinates with private interests through
informal mechanisms. For example, Shell Oil Company officials stated
that they have briefed Sector Anchorage and District 17 officials on
details of their oil exploration activities including time lines,
location of industry vessels, and industry capabilities. Similarly,
officials representing the Alaska cruise industry stated that they
have met with Sector Anchorage officials as well as senior leadership
from District 17 to discuss cruise ship routes and logistics. In
addition to the for-profit private sector, the Coast Guard also has
informal coordination with various nonprofit entities with Arctic
interests. For example, officials from an environmental nonprofit
organization stated that they interact with Coast Guard officials at
public forums and through the North Pacific Fisheries Management
Council. In addition, officials from the Marine Conservation Alliance--
an organization established by the Alaska seafood industry to, among
other things, promote sustainable fishing--reported that the Coast
Guard is doing a good job of cultivating a positive relationship with
the Russian Border Guard, which is particularly important to ensure
enforcement of the U.S. decision to close U.S. Arctic waters to
commercial fishing. Appendix III provides further examples of
coordination between the Coast Guard and the private sector on Arctic
operations.
Stakeholders Reported Having Limited Information about the Coast
Guard's Arctic Planning Efforts and More Communication about Agency
Planning Efforts Would Be Beneficial:
The state and local Arctic stakeholders we met with were generally
positive about Coast Guard's coordination on day-to-day operations but
9 out of 15 of these stakeholders also reported that they lack
information on both the Coast Guard's ongoing planning efforts and
future approach in the Arctic. For example, a group of state and local
officials told us that they thought the Coast Guard had already
developed its Arctic plans but had not yet shared this information
with them. One local government official who has worked closely with
the Coast Guard stated that the High Latitude Study interviews and the
agency's recent community outreach in the Arctic have raised public
expectations that the Coast Guard will be establishing a year-round
presence in the region, but this official reported not knowing whether
this expectation would be realized or not. A State of Alaska official
reported that his office and others may be willing to invest in
infrastructure that could benefit the Coast Guard but this would be
difficult to do if they did not know of the agency's plans and time
frames for action. In addition, officials at an environmental
nonprofit organization we met with were concerned that the Coast Guard
did not have a formal process in place such as that used for proposed
regulations that would make information available to the public as
well as offer an opportunity for public input to be provided to the
agency regarding its Arctic plans. Finally, an Alaska Native North
Slope resident and environmental policy advisor we met with reported
that local communities want more information on what the Coast Guard
is doing or planning to do in the Arctic.
Our prior work on organizational transformations identified an
effective external communication strategy as essential to successful
transformation in federal agencies--changes such as those the Coast
Guard will likely experience with its potential operational growth in
a new and large geographic area.[Footnote 29] We have previously
reported that establishing a communication strategy should be a top
priority for agencies undergoing a transformation and is central to
creating shared expectations, reporting on progress, and forming the
partnerships needed to develop and implement an organization's
strategies. We have previously reported that communication is most
effective when done early and often and this helps to build an
understanding of the purpose of planned changes and builds trust among
stakeholders. We have also reported that establishing a communication
strategy is important in the public sector, where policy making and
program management call for transparency regarding the goals and
outcomes to be achieved and the processes to be used in achieving
them. In addition to our prior work on organizational change,
Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government state that
management should ensure there are adequate means of communicating
with, and obtaining information from, external stakeholders that may
have a significant impact on the agency achieving its goals.[Footnote
30]
Coast Guard headquarters officials told us that they have been focused
on communication with congressional and federal stakeholders and, as
of July 2010, did not have a communication strategy in place for
communicating to state and local stakeholders in Alaska on the
progress, time frames, or results of the agency's Arctic planning
efforts. Agency officials told us they would likely develop such a
strategy when the ongoing High Latitude Study is completed and the
administration determines a course of action. However, it could be
months or years before a course of action is determined. Developing a
communication strategy to report on results is important; however,
stakeholders are also interested in the process and progress of the
agency's planning efforts. Limited Coast Guard communication on the
process and progress of its Arctic planning efforts has resulted in
some state and local stakeholders reporting that they lack information
they believe would be useful to facilitate their own participation in
the process and allow for their planning efforts. In addition, the
Coast Guard could be missing an opportunity to create shared
expectations and report on its progress with key partners. While we
recognize that the Coast Guard and the administration are still
developing their Arctic strategy, communicating about the planning
process and interim steps is key to creating transparency and
providing a context for agency plans.
The Coast Guard Is Taking Action to Identify Future Arctic
Requirements While Routine Operations Provide Other Valuable
Information:
High Latitude Study Is the Centerpiece of the Coast Guard's Efforts to
Identify Arctic Requirements:
The Coast Guard has multiple efforts underway to better understand the
agency's future requirements and gaps in both the Arctic and Antarctic
with its primary effort being the High Latitude Study, an effort
undertaken in response to congressional direction.[Footnote 31] In
August 2009, the Coast Guard contracted out the development of the
High Latitude Study with the goal of producing three related mission
analyses related to (1) Polar icebreaking needs, (2) all 11 Coast
Guard missions in the Arctic region, and (3) all 11 Coast Guard
missions in the Antarctic region. [Footnote 32] In carrying out the
study, contractors have conducted literature reviews, held workshops
to obtain Coast Guard stakeholder input, and conducted site visits and
interviews with Coast Guard units in Alaska as well as with other
stakeholders, including private sector, federal, state, local, Alaska
Native, and international interest groups. Coast Guard officials
estimate the study's cost at $1.7 million and that all three volumes
will be ready for Coast Guard internal review in summer 2010; however,
they won't be released publicly until a later date.
The Arctic mission analysis piece of the High Latitude Study is
expected to include[Footnote 33]
* an analysis of the functional requirements to carry out the Coast
Guard's existing missions in the Arctic,
* an analysis of how the Coast Guard might close any operational gaps,
* solutions for a range of future demand scenarios such as a mass
search and rescue incident or an Arctic oil spill (including looking
at partnerships and opportunities to leverage resources), and:
* a rough order of magnitude cost estimate.
According to Coast Guard officials, the High Latitude Study is not
expected to detail specific recommended solutions or assets, but
rather identify the types of capabilities needed in the Arctic. In
addition, while not Arctic-specific, DHS and the Coast Guard have
begun a comprehensive Fleet Mix Analysis--an analysis of the
capabilities, number, and mix of assets it needs to fulfill the
agency's missions. According to Coast Guard officials, this analysis
is due to be completed in December 2010 and is expected to include
more specific fleet requirements for surface operations in the Bering
Sea region of the Arctic but not above the Arctic Circle.[Footnote 34]
The Coast Guard's Temporary Arctic Operations Test Assets, Build
Relationships with Local Communities, and Inform Operational
Requirements:
Another action the Coast Guard has taken specifically to inform its
Arctic requirements has been the establishment of temporary, seasonal
operating locations in the Arctic. These efforts, conducted during the
summers of 2008 and 2009, were focused on improving the agency's
knowledge of the Arctic region and identifying requirements needed to
carry out its missions there. The specific objectives of these
temporary operating locations have been to improve Arctic domain
awareness, test communications, test the agency's ability to respond
to incidents, and engage with the local Alaska Native communities.
These Arctic deployments have been short--in Barrow for 2 weeks in the
summer of 2008 and in Barrow, Nome, and Prudhoe Bay for about 6 weeks
in 2009--and have not involved the construction of permanent
infrastructure.
The Coast Guard used these efforts to identify performance
requirements and obstacles associated with the deployment of small
boats, aircraft, and support staff above the Arctic Circle. According
to Coast Guard officials, lessons learned from these activities are
captured in after-action reports that are being used to inform future
Arctic requirement planning efforts. For example, in the summer of
2008 the Coast Guard experimented with small response boats and MH-65
helicopters in Barrow, Alaska and the agency's after-action report
states that the Coast Guard learned about the lack of infrastructure,
such as hangar space, in Barrow and grappled with the lack of reliable
navigation charts in the region.[Footnote 35] These challenges to
Arctic operations are described later in this report. As part of the
summer 2009 deployment, the Coast Guard carried out an "Arctic
Crossroads" program--including, among other things, boating safety
awareness programs for children, veterinary services, and outreach to
Alaska Native communities in the Arctic. According to the Coast Guard,
these outreach activities highlighted the importance of good relations
with village leadership and tribal elders for future Arctic operations.
The Coast Guard is planning additional Arctic operating location
activities for the summer of 2010. According to Coast Guard officials,
the 2010 activities will include daily small boat operations in
Kotzebue; medical, veterinary, and water safety outreach to 10 remote
communities; and HC-130 maritime boundary line patrols.[Footnote 36]
In addition, the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy will work closely with a
Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker on a science mission in August and
September. The Coast Guard had also planned to have the Polar Sea
icebreaker retrieve science buoys and deliver medical personnel to
four villages, but the ship's scheduled 2010 Arctic patrol has been
canceled due to engine problems. In addition, Coast Guard District
17's planned use of its buoy tender--the Hickory--for summer 2010
Arctic operations has been canceled because another District 17 buoy
tender--the Sycamore--was deployed to the Gulf of Mexico to assist
with Deepwater Horizon oil spill response efforts and the Hickory is
needed to cover their Aids to Navigation responsibilities.
The Coast Guard's Arctic Overflights Also Test Capabilities, Increase
Maritime Domain Awareness, and Inform Requirements:
Another key Coast Guard effort specifically focused on gaining Arctic
information has been the Coast Guard's Arctic overflights, which were
initiated to increase the agency's maritime domain awareness, test
personnel and equipment capabilities in the Arctic, and inform the
agency's Arctic requirements, among other things. The Coast Guard
initiated seasonal (March-November) biweekly Arctic domain awareness
flights in October 2007. Coast Guard officials reported that these
flights have resulted in better situational awareness--the Coast Guard
is gaining biweekly observations of Arctic ice conditions and vessel
traffic--and operational insight that is being used to inform the
agency's future Arctic requirements.[Footnote 37] For example, the
Coast Guard's after-action report from a May 2010 overflight along the
northwestern coast of Alaska lists four objectives: maritime security
and national defense patrol, monitor impact from coastal erosion,
familiarize and train pilot and crew above the Arctic Circle, and
collect scientific data for NOAA.[Footnote 38] The after-action report
lists the vessels sighted and includes descriptions of the weather and
ice coverage--information that improves the Coast Guard's situational
awareness and may be helpful in determining the agency's future Arctic
requirements. An October 2007 overflight after-action report notes the
lack of communications connectivity on the North Slope and lack of
support infrastructure for the HC-130 in Barrow. (These challenges are
elaborated later in this report.) According to the Coast Guard, the
information gathered from Arctic overflights informs the agency's
future Arctic requirements by, for example, improving pilot
familiarity with the region, providing information on the limitations
of aircraft, and providing marine mammal observation data. Figure 4
shows the view from a Coast Guard flight over Kivalina, Alaska in May
2009.
Figure 4: A Coast Guard HC-130 Aircraft on an Arctic Domain Awareness
Flight in May 2009 above Kivalina, Alaska:
[Refer to PDF for image: photograph]
Source: Coast Guard.
[End of figure]
The Coast Guard's Routine Arctic Operations Also Inform Requirements:
In addition to the specific Coast Guard actions taken to inform its
Arctic requirements, the agency is also gaining valuable knowledge
about the Arctic from conducting its routine mission operations in the
region. Through routine mission operations--especially those related
to icebreaking, search and rescue, marine environmental protection,
and Aids to Navigation--the Coast Guard has been able to collect
useful information on the capability of its existing assets,
strategies for overcoming logistical challenges presented by long-
distance responses to incidents, and the resources needed to respond
to an oil spill in a remote and cold location, among other things.
According to the Coast Guard, these routine mission activities have
provided further insight into the agency's future Arctic requirements.
For more information on these actions, see appendix V.
The Coast Guard's Preliminary Efforts to Determine Future Arctic
Requirements Generally Align with Key Practices We Have Identified for
Defining Agency Missions:
Our prior work on the key steps and critical practices to implement
the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993[Footnote 39]
highlighted the importance of three key practices in an agency's
effort to define its mission and desired outcomes, all of which are
relevant to the Coast Guard's ongoing planning efforts: (1) involve
stakeholders; (2) assess environment; and (3) align activities, core
processes, and resources.[Footnote 40] We reported that successful
organizations we studied based their strategic planning, to a large
extent, on the interests and expectations of their stakeholders.
Stakeholder involvement is important to help agencies ensure that
their efforts and resources are targeted at the highest priorities.
Just as important, involving stakeholders in strategic planning
efforts can help create a basic understanding among the stakeholders
of the competing demands that confront most agencies, the limited
resources available to them, and how those demands and resources
require careful and continuous balancing. We further reported on the
importance of managers assessing the environment--both inside and
outside their organizations--in order to anticipate future challenges
and to make adjustments so that potential problems do not become
crises. The third critical practice--align activities, core processes,
and resources--will be important once the Coast Guard determines its
mission and desired outcomes in the Arctic.
Though the Coast Guard is still early in its Arctic planning process,
the agency's preliminary efforts address elements of each of these key
practices to define agency missions and desired outcomes.
Specifically, the Coast Guard has involved stakeholders in its
planning efforts by conducting over 50 interviews with a wide range of
stakeholders as part of the High Latitude Study and consulting with
local leaders and Alaska Native elders as part of its temporary
operations on the North Slope in the summers of 2008 and 2009. The
Coast Guard has assessed its environment by reviewing the agreements
and policies, domestic and international, that impact the agency's
requirements in the Arctic, taking stock of other nations' activities
and interests in the region, and analyzing the "drivers" or potential
sources of change in the Arctic. In addition, the agency's Arctic
overflights and temporary operations improve the agency's Arctic
domain awareness. Finally, the High Latitude Study addresses the third
critical practice of aligning activities, core processes, and
resources by beginning to identify the potential activities and
resources needed to support the Coast Guard's Arctic missions and
goals.
The Coast Guard Faces Numerous Challenges to Current and Future Arctic
Operations:
The Coast Guard Has Limited Maritime Domain Awareness in the Arctic,
but Is Working to Acquire Additional Data:
Coast Guard officials report that improved maritime domain awareness
is critical to the agency's operations in the region but the agency
faces several challenges to addressing this. According to the Coast
Guard, maritime domain awareness is an effort to achieve an
understanding of anything in the maritime environment that can affect
the security, safety, economy, or environment of the United
States.[Footnote 41] Coast Guard documents state that Arctic domain
awareness--maritime domain awareness in the Arctic--is critical to
understanding the risks to the maritime community and infrastructure,
the Arctic environment, and Alaska Native culture and subsistence
lifestyle. In addition, in 2008, the Coast Guard reported to Congress
that Arctic domain awareness will be critical to effective engagement
in the Arctic as activity increases.[Footnote 42] At the beginning of
the agency's 2008 summer deployment in the Arctic, District 17
officials reported not having the Arctic domain awareness to fully
understand the context or the risks of operating in or monitoring the
Arctic and explained that the summer operations were intended to
address this. According to senior Coast Guard officials, Coast Guard
after-action reports of summer Arctic operations, and other federal
partners, challenges exist for the Coast Guard in achieving Arctic
domain awareness. These challenges include (1) inadequate Arctic Ocean
and weather data, (2) lack of communication infrastructure, (3)
limited intelligence information, and (4) lack of a physical presence
in the Arctic. For example:
Inadequate Arctic Ocean and Weather Information: NOAA officials
reported a lack of accurate data for Arctic navigation including,
among other things, tides, nautical charts, water levels, currents,
shoreline, sea ice, and meteorological information. This lack of
information can have an impact on the ability of the Coast Guard to
conduct routine and emergency missions. For example, during its summer
Arctic deployments the Coast Guard reported that smaller pieces of sea
ice are often missed by current technology and, while inconsequential
for icebreakers, this sea ice represents a significant hazard for the
remainder of the Coast Guard's portfolio of boats.
Lack of Communication Infrastructure: The Coast Guard reported
communication problems during its summer operations due to limited
network infrastructure. Coast Guard officials noted that high-
frequency radio communication is unreliable for low-flying aircraft in
the U.S. Arctic and is ineffective at extreme latitudes. For example,
Coast Guard HC-130 aircraft and icebreakers deployed to the Arctic may
be unable to communicate with one another on high-frequency radio
despite being in relatively close proximity unless special equipment
is on board.[Footnote 43] For the 2009 deployment, the Coast Guard
reported that reliable communications continue to be the primary
concern when conducting forward operations. These communication issues
present safety concerns for Coast Guard Arctic operations. To help
improve communications, the Coast Guard is planning to replace
antiquated communications systems nationwide with an advanced command,
control, and communications system called Rescue 21.[Footnote 44]
However, because of the unique operating and support requirements of
the Alaska region, Coast Guard will be implementing a modified,
commercially-based solution in Alaska rather than the current Rescue
21 system.
Limited Intelligence Information: Senior Coast Guard officials
reported that while Arctic intelligence gathering is not an immediate
concern, the agency does need to develop greater capacity in this area
as Arctic activity increases. Coast Guard District 17 officials
reported that current sources of Arctic intelligence include biweekly
Arctic domain awareness overflights, temporary Arctic operations,
satellite and AIS information, Joint Terrorism Task Force meetings,
and international information sharing. District 17 officials also
reported that they search the internet and open sources for
information on Arctic vessel traffic and adventure cruises.[Footnote
45] To obtain more information on Arctic vessel traffic, District 17
Coast Guard officials are pursuing the purchase of additional real-
time AIS data for the Arctic, but they reported that funding
limitations remain a concern. Also, Coast Guard's report to Congress
notes that these intelligence limitations diminish the Coast Guard's
ability to successfully monitor, assess, and maintain a predictive
advantage and operational awareness of Arctic activities.
Lack of an Arctic Presence: The Coast Guard has a very limited
physical presence in the Arctic. Most of the Coast Guard's on-the-
ground activity in the Arctic has taken place during the agency's
brief summer deployments in the region. The Coast Guard's physical
presence also consists of biweekly Arctic overflights, patrols by
icebreakers, and District 17's buoy tender, when those assets are
available. In recent years, however, the Coast Guard's icebreakers
have had mechanical problems which have limited their usage in the
Arctic and the buoy tender has currently been redeployed. Coast Guard
District 17 officials noted that this lack of overall presence affects
the Coast Guard's ability to project U.S. sovereignty, gather
intelligence, and respond to incidents.
Senior District 17 officials stated that they had taken actions to try
to increase their Arctic awareness. For example, District 17 has
stationed HC-130 airplanes in Nome and Kotzebue during the summer
months to provide easier access to the maritime boundary with Russia
and to monitor foreign commercial fishing incursions into U.S. waters.
Additionally, the Coast Guard will continue its summer deployments in
2010 and pursue a contract to purchase data for 10 additional AIS
sites from the Marine Exchange of Alaska. Three of these sites are
expected to provide additional Arctic domain awareness on transiting
vessels. These are small steps towards understanding the Arctic
environment and without additional Arctic infrastructure, assets, and
data, limited Arctic domain awareness will remain a challenge.
Coast Guard Assets and Infrastructure for Arctic Missions Are Limited
and Not Suitable for the Arctic Environment:
District 17 officials reported that they do not have the assets to
effectively conduct their missions in the Arctic. In anticipation of a
growing demand for a Coast Guard presence in the Arctic, District 17
has used its temporary Arctic operations as an opportunity to test the
adequacy of its assets (boats, helicopters, airplanes) in Arctic
conditions. Coast Guard after-action reports and officials both
reported several asset challenges: (1) an inadequate portfolio of
small boats for Arctic operations, (2) an environmental impact on
helicopters and airplanes, and (3) a lack of cutter resources for
Arctic patrols.
Inadequate Portfolio of Small Boats for Arctic Operations: The
combination of ice floes, steeper waves, and shallow, silt-filled
water presents an extremely hazardous operating environment for small
boats in the Arctic. District 17 officials reported that these
conditions render the agency's current portfolio of small boats
ineffective for safe operations. Coast Guard officials report that it
will be difficult for the agency to carry out its statutory missions
in the Arctic if another small boat option is not identified. Figure 5
shows a Coast Guard response boat in Arctic waters off of Barrow,
Alaska.
Figure 5: A Response Boat in Arctic Waters Off of Barrow, Alaska:
[Refer to PDF for image: photograph]
Source: Coast Guard.
[End of figure]
Environmental Impact on Helicopters and Airplanes: The unique
operating conditions in the Arctic--freezing temperatures, snow, and
ice--make helicopter and airplane missions tenuous. For example,
during the 2008 summer deployment, the Coast Guard reported that the
vast distances, icing conditions, and scarcity of aviation fuel on the
North Slope rendered the Coast Guard's MH-65 helicopter ineffective
for North Slope operations. Additionally, during the 2009 summer
deployment, the Coast Guard reported that MH-60 helicopters would need
to operate in tandem to provide backup self-rescue resources in remote
areas.[Footnote 46] The Coast Guard reported that while the HC-130
Hercules airplane is capable of operating in harsh conditions, major
modifications (e.g., aircraft structures, hydraulic and electrical
systems, landing gear skis, fuel with a lower freezing point) would be
required to operate in Arctic conditions throughout the entire year.
Lack of Cutter Resources for Arctic Patrols: Senior Coast Guard
officials reported that in fiscal year 2010 the agency has less than
two major medium endurance or high endurance cutters at a time
available to cover its statutory missions in all Alaskan waters--an
area of responsibility equal to the size of the continental United
States--and that this resource level is inadequate to sustain the
Coast Guard's current requirements in Alaska, let alone expanded
Arctic operations.[Footnote 47] Coast Guard officials noted that this
low level of cutter availability limits the agency to patrols in the
Bering Sea. Senior Coast Guard officials reported that District 17 has
seen a year-to-year reduction in the number of large cutters available
for district operations--from the equivalent of 3.0 cutters on patrol
at the same time in Alaska in 2005 to 2.0 in 2006, to less than 2.0
cutters in 2009, to about one cutter programmed to be on patrol at all
times in Alaska beginning in 2011.[Footnote 48] Senior Coast Guard
officials also reported that additional cutter time will be needed to
provide adequate resources for the Coast Guard's Arctic missions,
especially since the Arctic region is such a remote and challenging
operating environment. In addition, some Coast Guard officials are
concerned that the planned replacement of 12 high-endurance cutters
with 8 new National Security Cutters may exacerbate this challenge,
though others noted that the proposed Offshore Patrol Cutters may make
up some of the difference. However, as of July 2010, DHS and the Coast
Guard were still developing the requirements for the Offshore Patrol
Cutter and a deployment date has yet to be determined.[Footnote 49]
Coast Guard officials acknowledge that many of the agency's assets are
not suitable for the Arctic environment and said they are beginning to
develop potential solutions. For example, in March 2010, Senior
District 17 officials sent a memo to Pacific Area Command and Coast
Guard Headquarters requesting assistance in researching and
identifying a suitable small boat platform for Arctic operations. The
memo listed a set of requirements and capabilities including, among
other things, a jet-driven engine, ability to operate in slush ice and
8-foot seas, and ability to be transported by an HC-130 aircraft.
District 17 officials reported in June 2010 that the agency has
identified a 28-foot boat that may meet some, but not all, of the
requested parameters for an Arctic boat. District 17 officials also
reported that they plan to have the prototype of this boat tested
during the 2010 summer deployment in Kotzebue. However, District 17
officials stated that this particular boat is not HC-130 compatible,
and thus is not acceptable for their Arctic needs.
The Coast Guard Lacks the Infrastructure to Maintain a Consistent
Presence in the Arctic:
The Coast Guard lacks the infrastructure to maintain a consistent
presence in the Arctic. In its 2008 report to Congress, the Coast
Guard noted that as Arctic activities increase the "United States will
need a maritime surface and air presence in the Arctic sufficient to
support appropriate prevention and response regimes as well as
diplomatic objectives." Especially important to achieving this
presence is shore-based infrastructure which is essential for Arctic
operations including, among other things, logistical support for air
and surface operations, coordination with stakeholders, and improved
response times. However, the Coast Guard does not have any permanent
infrastructure in the Arctic.[Footnote 50] For example, the Coast
Guard has no designated air stations north of Kodiak, Alaska--a city
948 miles or 8 helicopter flight hours and at least one fuel stop from
Point Barrow, Alaska under favorable weather conditions. Additionally,
once on scene in the Arctic, surface and air assets are limited by
fuel capacity, distance to fuel sources, and crew rest requirements.
Although there are limited cutter services for small vessels in Nome,
the closest Coast Guard full-service facility to Barrow is located in
Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian chain--almost 1,000 miles away.
In addition to a lack of infrastructure for air and surface assets,
there is also a lack of housing facilities for Coast Guard personnel.
For example, during the agency's temporary Arctic operations in the
summer of 2009 in Prudhoe Bay and Nome, Coast Guard personnel were
housed in a variety of public and private locations due to a lack of
facilities. This particular lack of infrastructure also necessitates
advance planning for any Arctic operations. For example, due to the
remoteness of the Arctic region, a minimum of 18-24 hours lead time is
needed to acquire and transport parts, equipment, and material to any
Coast Guard operating location there.
Senior District 17 officials reported trying to find interim solutions
to their infrastructure challenges. For example, to provide better
response capabilities to remote Bering Sea locations--the hub of
Alaskan fishing grounds--the Coast Guard deploys aircraft to forward
operating locations in Cold Bay and St. Paul during the winter. To
reduce costs for these operating locations, Coast Guard personnel in
St. Paul have been staying in the Long Range Aids to Navigation
station--one of the Coast Guard's most isolated and remote duty
stations which was recently closed. Additionally, the Coast Guard has
been leasing hangar space in Cold Bay for winter operations and has
invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade the hangar.
However, Coast Guard officials reported that both the hangar and
housing options in Cold Bay remain inadequate. For example, according
to Coast Guard documentation, the leased hangar in Cold Bay is
inadequate to house two helicopters due to insufficient space for
blade clearance, has structural problems, and lacks adequate heating
for pilots. Also, as a cost savings measure in Cold Bay, two aircrews
are using a house maintained by Alaska State Troopers. However,
according to Coast Guard officials, this arrangement does not provide
adequate lodging or dining facilities and is subject to the
availability of the house. In an effort to retain Cold Bay as a
forward operating location, in May 2009, District 17 submitted a
revised proposal to Headquarters for a more limited, cost-effective
structure in Cold Bay capable of holding two H-60 helicopters.
District 17 officials reported in June 2010 that the project was
endorsed by the Coast Guard Commander for Pacific Area and sent to
Coast Guard Headquarters for sequential clearance. However, District
17 officials reported that the earliest the project could begin is
fiscal year 2012, and only after another fiscal year 2012 project has
been pulled from the construction calendar. While this would provide a
solution to infrastructure issues at Cold Bay, this location still
only allows the Coast Guard to maintain a presence on the periphery of
the Arctic.
Coast Guard Personnel Face Challenges Operating in the Arctic Due to
Limited Training Opportunities:
The Coast Guard has encountered difficulties allocating its personnel
and other resources to accomplish all of its diverse missions while
ensuring that it addresses personnel readiness, qualifications, and
training requirements.[Footnote 51] This is also the case in the
Arctic, where the Coast Guard faces challenges ensuring its personnel
have adequate experience to navigate Arctic conditions.
The Coast Guard faces diminishing Arctic fleet experience due to
limited icebreaker resources. A 2007 report from the National Research
Council stated that new icebreakers would allow "the Coast Guard to
reestablish an active patrol presence in U.S. waters north of Alaska
to meet statutory responsibilities that will inevitably derive from
increased human activity, economic development, and environmental
change." According to Coast Guard officials, the lack of capable U.S.
icebreakers combined with the significant role that icebreakers have
played supporting scientific missions, has limited the experience that
Coast Guard personnel can gain conducting additional statutory
missions in the Arctic. For example, the Coast Guard Commandant
testified on July 16, 2008, that although the Coast Guard was able to
conduct patrols with the icebreakers in May and June 2008--fisheries
enforcement and Arctic Domain Awareness--he noted "I wish we could
have done more. I wish we could have got deeper into the ice and spent
a longer time there, because these competencies atrophy over time, and
I am concerned that at a certain point, there won't be a baseline
level of competency to operate these ships." Coast Guard Headquarters
officials affirmed this view by stating that one of the key challenges
facing the Coast Guard in the Arctic is the diminishing fleet
expertise for operating in Arctic-type conditions. Although there are
other domestic icebreakers--used primarily for Great Lakes
icebreaking--due to differences in ice conditions icebreaking aboard
these vessels does not completely translate to the skill set needed
for operating in Arctic ice conditions, according to Coast Guard
program officials.
The Identification of Detailed Arctic Requirements Will Require
Further Data and Take Considerable Time, and Funding Is Uncertain:
As the Coast Guard plans for future Arctic operations, the agency
faces the challenge of uncertainty over the time frame for the
environmental and developmental changes taking place in the Arctic as
well as uncertainty over future funding streams. While scientific
research has indicated that the Arctic might have ice-diminished
summers as early as 2040, there will likely continue to be variability
in the quantity, location, and projections of ice cover, especially
since recent data show the ice diminishing at a record pace.
Additionally, there is still a need for more sophisticated Arctic ice
models from NOAA and other agencies to improve the accuracy of
predictions of future changes in sea ice. In the absence of a
scientific consensus on a climate change time line, the Coast Guard
may find it difficult to determine precisely when and how much to
invest in an Arctic presence. In addition, the timing of oil and gas
exploration and development in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas could be
affected by ongoing litigation, the public reaction to the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the current moratorium on
new drilling permits, among other things. These factors make it
difficult for the Coast Guard to plan and dedicate the resources
needed to meet future extraction activities.
Though various planning efforts are underway, the identification of
detailed Arctic requirements (numbers and types of assets, dollars,
and personnel required) will still take considerable time to complete
and it may be many more years before detailed requirements translate
into budget requests, congressional appropriations, acquisition
activity, and, finally, assets and infrastructure that may be needed
for Arctic operations. For example, the Coast Guard is studying how
many polar icebreakers, with what capabilities, would be needed as
replacements for Polar Star and Polar Sea.[Footnote 52] However, the
first replacement polar icebreaker would not enter service for 8 to 10
years, by which time the Polar Star and Polar Sea would be over 40
years old--well past their intended service lives. Furthermore, the
Coast Guard estimated in February 2008 that new replacement
icebreakers could cost between $800 and $925 million each in 2008
dollars.
Given the resource-constrained federal budget environment, the Coast
Guard's planning process, however thorough, to identify Arctic
requirements will not guarantee that the Coast Guard's identified
resource needs for the Arctic are met. The Commandant of the Coast
Guard recognized the economic challenges when he testified in May 2009
on the Coast Guard's fiscal year 2010 budget request. He acknowledged
that the Coast Guard could no longer do more with less, and would need
to prioritize resource allocations, while accepting risk areas where
resources would be lacking. In July 2009, we reported that while the
Coast Guard's budget has increased significantly since 2003, the long-
term budget outlook for the Service is uncertain.[Footnote 53]
Specifically, administration budget projections indicate that the
DHS's annual budget is expected to remain constant or decrease over
the next 10 years. As a result of this budget uncertainty, even if the
results of the High Latitude Study show the need to increase Arctic
resources, it may be a significant challenge for the Coast Guard to
obtain them.
Coast Guard officials reported that they had gathered information on
the changing Arctic and are evaluating future Arctic operations in
order to be informed as they prepare themselves to move forward with
Arctic plans. For example, Coast Guard officials commented that they
consult with NOAA--the federal authority on climate change--on climate
change projections and current weather-related data when projecting
future Arctic-related plans. Additionally, the Coast Guard's High
Latitude Study has taken into account the variations in climate change
projections in the Arctic and will provide the Coast Guard with
information on how its Arctic investments could change with respect to
variability in the Arctic climate. The High Latitude Study should also
help the Coast Guard to support its future funding requests related to
its Arctic requirements by providing the supporting information
necessary to validate its budget requests.
Conclusions:
Determining a future course of action for Arctic operations presents
the Coast Guard with significant challenges given the range and
complexity of factors the agency must navigate in developing its plan.
Uncertainty about when the Arctic will become navigable, the limited
information on both current and future Arctic activity, and the
difficulty of operating in a harsh environment and concerns about
future funding--all contribute to planning challenges. Though its
Arctic planning efforts are still formative, the Coast Guard has
partnered with agencies and organizations that share an interest in
the Arctic. This has allowed the Coast Guard to leverage resources and
develop relationships that will likely play a key role as the agency
develops its operations in this region. However, the Coast Guard's
success in implementing an Arctic plan also rests in part on how
successfully it communicates with key stakeholders, especially state
and local officials, and Alaska Native tribal governments and interest
groups. Coast Guard officials reported the agency's intent to develop
a communication strategy to share information with Arctic stakeholders
once it determined the agency's longer-term plans. Communicating these
results, once known, is essential and we agree with this intent, but
also believe it is important for the Coast Guard to begin to
communicate now with key stakeholders about its ongoing planning
process and related progress to keep stakeholders engaged in this
process. We believe it is important in the public sector, and perhaps
even more so with respect to Arctic issues given the many
uncertainties, that policy making be transparent regarding the goals
and outcomes to be achieved as well as the processes used in achieving
them.
Recommendation for Executive Action:
To maintain effective communication and relationships with
stakeholders central to the Coast Guard's future Arctic operations, we
recommend that the Commandant of the Coast Guard ensure that the
agency communicates with these stakeholders on the process and
progress of its Arctic planning efforts.
Agency Comments:
We requested comments on a draft of this report from DHS, DOI, DOC,
DOD, DOT, NSF, and State. The departments did not provide official
written comments to include in our report. However, in an e-mail
received September 9, 2010, the DHS liaison stated that DHS concurred
with our recommendation. DHS, DOI, DOC, and NSF provided written
technical comments, which we incorporated into the report as
appropriate.
As agreed with your offices, unless you publicly announce the contents
of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days
from the report date. At that time, we will send copies of this report
to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, the
Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of
Transportation, the Secretary of Defense, the Acting Director of NSF,
appropriate congressional committees and other interested parties. In
addition, this report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web
site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov].
If you have any further questions about this report, please contact me
at (202) 512-9610 or caldwells@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices
of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last
page of this report. Key contributors to this report are listed in
appendix VI.
Signed by:
Stephen L. Caldwell:
Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology:
The objectives of our work were to determine the extent to which the
Coast Guard is: (1) coordinating with stakeholders on Arctic issues
and operations and what, if any, further opportunities exist to
enhance coordination; (2) taking action to identify its requirements
for future Arctic operations; and (3) taking steps to identify and
mitigate Arctic challenges to meet current and future Arctic
requirements.
To gather information for all three of these objectives we interviewed
public and private sector representatives with operations or interests
in the Arctic. We interviewed headquarters-based officials at the
Coast Guard, National Science Foundation, U.S. Arctic Research
Commission, and the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce
regarding the Coast Guard's efforts to prepare for increasing Arctic
activity. To further understand the Coast Guard's coordination with
Arctic stakeholders, efforts to identify Arctic requirements, and
operational challenges in the Arctic, we conducted a site visit to
Alaska where we interviewed field-based officials from seven federal
departments and agencies with operations in the Arctic (Coast Guard,
Department of Defense, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and
Enforcement,[Footnote 54] Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Arctic
Research Commission, and the Denali Commission[Footnote 55]), three
Alaska state departments (Fish and Game; Natural Resources; and
Commerce, Community and Economic Development), one Alaska Native
interest group (Alaska Native Regional Corporation[Footnote 56]), and
six private or nonprofit organizations representing various Arctic
interests including those related to shipping, cruise line activities,
resource extraction, fishing, and environmental protection. We also
conducted telephone interviews with representatives from two
additional Alaska Native interest groups (Alaskan Eskimo Whaling
Commission, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government),
the Environmental Protection Agency, Alaska Division of Homeland
Security and Emergency Preparedness, two representatives of Arctic
local government, a nonprofit environmental protection organization,
and an international cruise line association. Additionally, the team
met with representatives of the International Maritime Organization
(IMO) to discuss the development of Arctic regulations and guidance.
[Footnote 57]
To determine the extent to which the Coast Guard is coordinating with
Arctic stakeholders on Arctic issues and operations and if additional
coordination opportunities exist, we interviewed the above noted
stakeholders due to their presence or involvement in the Arctic,
reported interaction with the Coast Guard, and based on the
recommendations of other Arctic stakeholders. Since we selected a
nonprobability sample of Arctic stakeholders, the information obtained
from these interviews cannot be generalized to all stakeholders but
does provide for a broad overview of the types of Coast Guard
coordination taking place on Arctic issues. We also reviewed
documentation of the Coast Guard's Arctic coordination such as
memorandums of understanding, Coast Guard records of contact with
Alaska Native interest groups, and after-action reports. For the Coast
Guard's interagency coordination on Arctic policy issues we identified
how, if at all, each effort aligned with key practices we have
identified for enhancing and sustaining interagency coordination. We
also reviewed the Coast Guard's interagency coordination efforts
against criteria in Standards for Internal Control in the Federal
Government related to effective characteristics of program management.
[Footnote 58] We did not evaluate the effectiveness of each
interagency coordination effort but simply identified the key
practices each effort is structured to address.
To determine the steps that the Coast Guard is taking to identify its
future Arctic requirements we interviewed headquarters and field-based
Coast Guard officials. On our site visit to Alaska we met with Coast
Guard District 17 and Sector Anchorage officials responsible for all
Coast Guard operations in the state of Alaska.[Footnote 59] During
this site visit we joined Coast Guard and other officials on a Coast
Guard Arctic domain awareness flight which provided direct observation
of how the agency is using one aviation asset to learn more about the
Arctic environment.[Footnote 60] We also interviewed the above noted
stakeholders to obtain their views on Coast Guard actions and
understand the role that other Arctic stakeholders have had in helping
the Coast Guard determine its Arctic mission requirements. We also
reviewed Coast Guard documentation of its efforts to plan for
increased Arctic activity including documents pertaining to the
agency's High Latitude Study (the Coast Guard's ongoing analysis of
current and future Arctic mission requirements) and after action-
reports (reports that document an event or exercise to capture
performance and suggest improvements). We reviewed our prior work on
key steps and critical practices to implement the Government
Performance and Results Act of 1993[Footnote 61] and determined how
the Coast Guard's preliminary planning efforts align with these.
To determine the extent to which the Coast Guard is taking steps to
identify and mitigate Arctic challenges to meet current and future
Arctic requirements, we interviewed headquarters and field-based Coast
Guard officials to discuss the Arctic operating environment,
challenges to the Coast Guard's Arctic activities, and steps being
taken to mitigate these challenges. On our site visit to Alaska we
discussed these issues with Coast Guard District 17 and Sector
Anchorage officials and observed Arctic-related assets and activities
to further our understanding of the challenges the agency faces.
Finally, we reviewed Coast Guard documents such as after-action
reports and reports to Congress as well as research reports from the
Arctic Council (Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment), National
Academies, Congressional Research Service, and the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, among others, to distill additional
challenges and factors impacting the Coast Guard's Arctic operations.
We conducted this performance audit from September 2009 to September
2010 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for
our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Examples of State, Local, and Alaska Native Stakeholders
Operating in the Arctic:
Table 2 describes key state, local, and Alaska Native stakeholders
operating in the Arctic. The table provides information on the
responsibilities of the stakeholders as well as examples of their work
or locations in the Arctic. This is not an exhaustive list, but the
table does give a sense of the many stakeholders and layers of
responsibility that the Coast Guard must coordinate with in the Arctic.
Table 2: Examples of State, Local, and Alaska Native Stakeholders
Operating in the Arctic:
State, local or Alaska Native Arctic stakeholder: State of Alaska;
Alaska Department of Fish and Game;
Arctic responsibilities: This department is responsible for
protecting, maintaining, and improving the fish, game, and aquatic
plant resources in the state and managing their use and development in
the best interest of the economy and well-being of the people of the
state. For example, the department regulates commercial fishing.
State, local or Alaska Native Arctic stakeholder: State of Alaska;
Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management;
Arctic responsibilities: State, local or Alaska Native Arctic
stakeholder: This department provides critical services to the state
to protect lives and property from terrorism and all other hazards, as
well as to provide rapid recovery from all disasters. For example, the
department tracks emergency planning efforts for Alaskan communities
including those in the Arctic.
State, local or Alaska Native Arctic stakeholder: State of Alaska;
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation;
Arctic responsibilities: This department's mission is to conserve,
improve, and protect Alaska's natural resources and environment and
control water, land, and air pollution, in order to enhance the
health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state and their
overall economic and social well being. For example, the department is
responsible for mitigating the effects of oil spills and ensuring
their cleanup in Northern Alaska.
State, local or Alaska Native Arctic stakeholder: Local government;
Borough;
Arctic responsibilities: The state is divided into 17 boroughs which
function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. For example,
Alaska's North Slope Borough encompasses 89,000 square miles of Arctic
territory in northern Alaska.
State, local or Alaska Native Arctic stakeholder: Alaska Native
interest groups and governments; Regional and village corporations;
Arctic responsibilities: The Alaska Native Regional Corporations were
established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,
enacted into law in 1971, which settled land and financial claims made
by the Alaska Natives and provided for the establishment of 13
regional corporations to administer those claims. For example, the
Arctic Slope Regional Corporation represents eight Arctic villages
including Barrow and Point Hope.
State, local or Alaska Native Arctic stakeholder: Alaska Native
interest groups and governments; Tribal village governments;
Arctic responsibilities: At the village level, a federally recognized
tribal government may coexist with a city government. For example, the
Arctic village of Barrow has both a city government structure and a
tribal government structure--the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat
Traditional Government. In communities with both municipal and tribal
governments, the state recognizes both as a local government and will
work with both governments jointly or separately. There are currently
229 federally recognized tribal governments in Alaska.
State, local or Alaska Native Arctic stakeholder: Alaska Native
interest groups and governments; Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and
Eskimo Walrus Commission;
Arctic responsibilities: The mission of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling
Commission is to safeguard the bowhead whale and its habitat and to
support the whaling activities and culture of its member communities.
The Eskimo Walrus Commission represents Alaska's coastal walrus
hunting communities and is recognized statewide for working on
resource co-management issues on behalf of Alaska Natives. Both of
these groups safeguard the essential cultural, natural, and
subsistence resources that are a significant part of their communities.
Source: GAO.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix III: Examples of Coast Guard Coordination with Key Federal,
State, Local, Alaska Native, and Private Sector Stakeholders:
Table 3 provides information on the key agencies and organizations
that the Coast Guard coordinates with on Arctic operations. The table
outlines additional coordination activities between the Coast Guard
and each agency or organization. This is not an exhaustive list; the
Coast Guard also coordinates with other agencies.
Table 3: Examples of Coast Guard Coordination with Key Federal, State,
Local, Alaska Native, and Private Sector Stakeholders in the Arctic:
Federal government:
Stakeholder: Department of Defense (DOD);
Example of coordination with the Coast Guard:
* The Coast Guard coordinates with various DOD entities to conduct
joint operations and leverage existing resources;
* For example, the Coast Guard coordinates with: (1) Joint Task Force-
Alaska in support of a unified approach to the security and defense of
Alaska; (2) Navy's Meteorological and Oceanographic Command for marine
weather observation and reporting in the Arctic; (3) Air Force and
Army components, Alaska Air National Guard and the Alaska Army
National Guard, coordinate closely with the Coast Guard's command
centers and aircrews on rescue missions in Alaska;
* In addition, under a long-standing agreement with the Navy, the
Coast Guard operates the nation's icebreakers and uses them, when
requested, to support the Navy.
Stakeholder: Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA);
Example of coordination with the Coast Guard:
* The Coast Guard coordinates with several NOAA offices to receive
scientific and technical support for operations in the Arctic. NOAA
provides meteorological data such as average temperatures and water
levels, weather forecasts, nautical charts, and global positioning
system data;
* During an oil spill, NOAA delivers expert scientific support to the
Coast Guard in its role as Federal On-Scene Coordinator;
* NOAA, the U.S. Navy, and the Coast Guard aid the navigation of U.S.
assets in ice-infested waters through the National Ice Center;
* The Coast Guard coordinates with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries
Service to manage and protect fisheries;
* The National Marine Fisheries Service and Coast Guard District 17
interact regularly as members of the North Pacific Fishery Management
Council--one of eight regional councils established to oversee
management of the nation's fisheries;
* In 2009 the North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended,
and National Marine Fisheries Service approved, the Arctic Fishery
Management Plan, which prohibits commercial fishing until sufficient
information is available to enable a sustainable commercial fishery.
The Coast Guard is the agency responsible for its enforcement.
Stakeholder: Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE);
Example of coordination with the Coast Guard:
* BOEMRE and the Coast Guard coordinate on civil penalties, accident
investigations, and oil spill planning, preparedness, and response;
* According to BOEMRE officials in Alaska, coordination with the Coast
Guard takes place: (1) when BOEMRE approves oil companies' contingency
plans and provides a courtesy copy to the Coast Guard; (2) in field
demonstrations to verify equipment and issue certifications (i.e., oil
spill removal organizations, vessels, and mobile offshore drilling
units) to drilling companies; and (3) for Coast Guard and BOEMRE-
sponsored research on oil spill responses.
Stakeholder: National Science Foundation (NSF);
Example of coordination with the Coast Guard:
* The Coast Guard coordinates with NSF on the use of polar icebreakers
in support of enhanced awareness of the Arctic region;
* In 2005, NSF and the Coast Guard signed a memorandum of agreement
(superseding their 1999 agreement) for the use of Coast Guard
icebreakers for science and operational support of programs funded by
NSF. The agreement was entered into after budget authority for the
Coast Guard's polar icebreakers was transferred to NSF.
State, local, and Alaska Native government:
Stakeholder: State of Alaska;
Example of coordination with the Coast Guard: The Coast Guard has
coordinated with;
* the Department of Fish and Game through bimonthly teleconferences
focused on fisheries enforcement;
* the Alaska Department of Homeland Security through Joint Terrorism
Task Force meetings; and;
* the Department of Environmental Conservation through the Alaska
Statement of Cooperation, a partnership agreement to work
cooperatively to identify and respond to environmental issues and
concerns in Alaska.
Stakeholder: Local government;
Example of coordination with the Coast Guard: The Coast Guard has
coordinated with;
* the North Slope Borough through annual regional planning meetings to
discuss Coast Guard's summer operations, among other things;
* the City of Nome on search and rescue; and;
* local leaders to arrange Coast Guard boating safety awareness
training in North Slope villages.
Stakeholder: Alaska Native governments and interest groups;
Example of coordination with the Coast Guard: The Coast Guard has
coordinated with;
* the Native village of Kivalina to address coastal erosion issues;
* the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to plan Coast Guard activities
so that subsistence hunting is not interrupted;
* the Native villages of Unalakleet, Kwigillingok, Koyuk, and Kotzebue
to maintain buoys that mark the approaches to these native villages;
* Alaska tribal leaders and senior military leaders by attending the
annual Tribal-Military Leaders Meeting; and;
* Tribal leaders in northwest and northern Alaska to discuss the local
impacts of climate change and resource development.
Private sector:
Stakeholder: Private industry (oil/gas, fishing, shipping, cruise
lines);
Example of coordination with the Coast Guard: The Coast Guard has
coordinated with;
* the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, which provides a forum for
communication between oil and gas industry and cooperation with
members, the public, and local, state, and federal government to learn
about industry plans on the North Slope;
* the Marine Conservation Alliance, which supports the Alaskan fishing
industry and those who are directly or indirectly involved in the
North Pacific (Alaska) fisheries to share information on fishery
management;
* Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska, which coordinates and advises cruise
ships on a variety of issues including customs and immigration,
transporting staff and passengers, and outfitting cruise ships for
activity in the Arctic; and;
* other industry representatives, such as Shell Oil Company officials,
to share information on the location of oil extraction vessels, time
line of operations, and private search and rescue capabilities.
Source: GAO.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix IV: Select Interagency Coordination Efforts Related to Arctic
Policy:
Table 4 provides information on key forums for interagency
coordination on Arctic policy and the key practices these coordination
efforts incorporate, which are not discussed in the body of this
report.
Table 4: Select Interagency Coordination Efforts Related to Arctic
Policy:
Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee:
Lead and key participating agencies: Lead agency: Office of Science
and Technology Policy; Key participants: National Science Foundation
(Chair), Departments of Commerce, Defense, State, Health and Human
Services, Homeland Security, Office of Science and Technology Policy,
Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Transportation, National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Smithsonian
Institution, National Endowment for the Humanities;
Establishment and purpose: Interagency Arctic Research Policy
Committee: Established by the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984,
this committee helps set priorities for future Arctic research;
works with the Arctic Research Commission to develop and establish an
integrated national Arctic research policy to guide federal agencies;
develops a 5-year plan to implement the national policy, and updates
the plan biennially, among other things. On July 22, 2010, President
Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum that assigns responsibility for
specific Arctic research activities to the National Science and
Technology Council. As a result, the Interagency Arctic Research
Policy Committee will become a subcommittee under the Committee on
Environment and Natural Resource, which is one of the four primary
National Science and Technology Council committees;
Example actions or accomplishments: Interagency Arctic Research Policy
Committee: In April 2007 this committee compiled member agency
information about the Arctic environment in a report, Arctic Observing
Network: Toward a US Contribution to Pan-Arctic Observing. The report
pinpoints where and how the different federal agencies are collecting
environmental data in the Arctic;
Key interagency coordination practices incorporated: Interagency
Arctic Research Policy Committee: Define and articulate a common
outcome; establish mutually reinforcing or joint strategies; agree on
roles and responsibilities; and establish means of operating across
agency boundaries.
U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Task Force:
Lead and key participating agencies: Lead agency: State Department;
Key participants: NOAA and the Department of the Interior (co-vice
chairs); the U.S. Geological Survey, the Executive Office of the
President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, Energy,
National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency,
Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Regulation, and Enforcement, and the U.S. Arctic Research Commission;
Establishment and purpose: Interagency Arctic Research Policy
Committee: In April 2007, the White House's Interagency Committee on
Ocean Science and Resource Management Integration established the
Extended Continental Shelf Task Force. The task force coordinates the
collection and analysis of relevant data and prepares the necessary
documentation to establish the limits of the U.S. continental shelf in
accordance with international law. The Coast Guard conducts data-
gathering cruises in the Arctic and National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, in collaboration with other partners, uses the data to
map the ocean floor;
Example actions or accomplishments: Interagency Arctic Research Policy
Committee: The Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration have collected data from cruises in the Arctic Ocean in
2003, 2004, and 2007 to 2009. The 2009 U.S. - Canada Arctic
Continental Shelf Survey mission was a 41-day mission involving Coast
Guard and Canadian icebreakers to collect scientific data about the
extended continental shelf and Arctic seafloor. The two nations plan
to work together again in the summer of 2010;
Key interagency coordination practices incorporated: Interagency
Arctic Research Policy Committee: Define and articulate a common
outcome; establish mutually reinforcing or joint strategies; agree on
roles and responsibilities; and establish means of operating across
agency boundaries.
Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS):
Lead and key participating agencies: Lead agency: Department of
Transportation; Key participants: Approximately 25 federal agencies
including the Coast Guard; State; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Maritime
Administration; Environmental Protection Agency; Department of
Interior; Federal Maritime Commission; Department of Energy;
Office of Management and Budget; Office of Science and Technology
Policy; Council on Environmental Quality; and National Security
Council;
Establishment and purpose: Interagency Arctic Research Policy
Committee: This committee was established as the result of a directive
in the U.S. Ocean Action Plan, issued December 17, 2004. Effective
August 2005, the CMTS's mission is to ensure the development and
implementation of national Marine Transportation System policies
consistent with national needs and to report to the President its
views and recommendations for improving the system;
Example actions or accomplishments: Interagency Arctic Research Policy
Committee: The CMTS Coordinating Board approved the development of a
U.S. Arctic Marine Transportation Integrated Action Team, co-chaired
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Maritime
Administration, in January 2010 to facilitate cross-federal agency
coordination to strengthen the marine transportation system in the
U.S. Arctic region, in the areas of safety, security, reliability, and
economic and environmental sustainability of the system. The
Integrated Action Team drafted a work plan which included the
completion of an inventory and gap analysis of federal agencies'
Marine Transportation System-related activities in the Arctic;
Key interagency coordination practices incorporated: Interagency
Arctic Research Policy Committee: Define and articulate a common
outcome; establish mutually reinforcing or joint strategies; agree on
roles and responsibilities; establish means of operating across agency
boundaries; develop mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and report on
results; and reinforce agency accountability for collaborative efforts
through agency plans and reports.
Arctic Policy Group:
Lead and key participating agencies: Lead agency: State Department;
Key participants: Departments of the Interior, Energy, Commerce
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Transportation
(Federal Aviation Administration), and Homeland Security (Coast
Guard), Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation,
U.S. Arctic Research Commission, and the State of Alaska;
Establishment and purpose: Interagency Arctic Research Policy
Committee: Established in 1971, the Arctic Policy Group coordinates
U.S. positions on international Arctic issues and, as such, leads U.S.
participation in the Arctic Council;
Example actions or accomplishments: Interagency Arctic Research Policy
Committee: The Arctic Policy Group meets once a month to discuss
Arctic Council issues as well as other Arctic issues;
Key interagency coordination practices incorporated: Interagency
Arctic Research Policy Committee: Define and articulate a common
outcome; establish mutually reinforcing or joint strategies;
agree on roles and responsibilities; and establish means of operating
across agency boundaries.
Source: GAO.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix V: Coast Guard's Routine Arctic Operations That Also Inform
Future Requirements:
This appendix provides additional information on some of the Coast
Guard's routine Arctic operations--icebreaking missions, search and
rescue cases, marine environmental protection responses, and Aids to
Navigation maintenance--that provide further insight into the agency's
future Arctic requirements. For example:
Ice Operations: The mission of the Coast Guard's polar icebreakers--
the Polar Sea, Polar Star, and the Healy--is to conduct and support
scientific research, defend U.S. sovereignty and other U.S. interests
in Polar regions, monitor sea traffic in the Arctic, and conduct other
Coast Guard missions such as search and rescue. However, for many
years these polar icebreakers have spent most of their time conducting
and supporting scientific research. These research activities have
resulted in greater insight on climate change, ocean floor mapping,
and other data which Coast Guard officials report are helping to
inform their Arctic requirements.[Footnote 62] For example, Coast
Guard icebreakers collect real-time satellite imagery, which
researchers from the international Arctic research community use to
investigate the effects of climate change and ice conditions. In
another example, as mentioned previously, over the past 3 years the
Coast Guard has carried out joint scientific cruises with the Canadian
Coast Guard to map portions of the Arctic Ocean floor and prepare both
nations for potential extended Exclusive Economic Zone claims in the
region.
Coast Guard officials note that the broadening scope of U.S. interests
in the Arctic may shift heavy icebreaker utilization from a scientific
support focus to a more multimission role to align with these
broadening interests. Coast Guard officials also reported that an
expansion of the demands on the Coast Guard's polar icebreakers may
exacerbate some of the agency's existing icebreaking resource
challenges. For example, Coast Guard officials reported challenges
fulfilling the agency's statutory icebreaking mission, let alone its
standing commitment to use the icebreakers to support the Navy as
needed, because (1) the budget and schedule for icebreaker operation
has in recent years been managed by the National Science Foundation,
(2) there is a limited number of U.S. polar icebreakers, and (3) two
of the three Coast Guard icebreakers are currently experiencing
operational problems. The Polar Star has not been in operational
condition since July 2006 and is currently undergoing a 30-month $62.8
million rehabilitation to extend its service life by approximately 7
to 10 years.[Footnote 63] According to the Coast Guard, the Polar Star
will not be operational for deployment until 2013. In addition, in
June 2010 the Coast Guard announced that the Polar Sea had engine
problems and would be unavailable for operation until at least January
2011. The Coast Guard has estimated that a new replacement icebreaker
could cost between $800 million and $925 million (in 2008 dollars) and
require around 10 years to design, award, and build.
Search and Rescue: Coast Guard officials reported that their
experience deploying assets to respond to search and rescue incidents
above the Arctic Circle highlighted the asset and personnel
requirements for operating in this harsh region. For example, Coast
Guard officials reported having minimal search and rescue capacity
above the Arctic Circle. The agency's closest aviation assets are in
Kodiak, Alaska, over 800 miles or about 8 hours helicopter flight time
away from the North Slope--too far away to be useful in an urgent life
or death situation.
In addition, due to the Coast Guard's limited assets above the Arctic
Circle the agency sometimes relies on third party responders. For
example, in July 2007 a Shell Oil Company helicopter and Canadian
Coast Guard cutter assisted a 20-foot skiff near Barrow, Alaska and in
September 2009 an Alaska Clean Seas vessel evacuated a medical patient
from a cruise ship near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.[Footnote 64] Coast Guard
officials report that although the number of search and rescue cases
above the Arctic Circle has been relatively low, these experiences
provided valuable information on Coast Guard and third party search
and rescue assets and capabilities in the Arctic which helps them to
determine future needs in the region. Coast Guard officials expect
that the demand for search and rescue will grow with increasing Arctic
maritime traffic.
Marine Environmental Protection: Coast Guard officials report that as
of July 2010 the agency has not had to respond to any oil or hazmat
spills in waters above the Arctic Circle, but the agency's experience
responding to incidents in more southern Arctic waters has provided
insight into the agency's future Arctic requirements. For example,
Coast Guard officials explained that their response to the December
2004 grounding of a 738-foot freighter--the Selendang Ayu--highlighted
the logistical challenges of getting personnel and assets on scene in
an area with limited infrastructure.[Footnote 65] Figure 6 shows the
view from an overflight to search for possible spilled oil after the
vessel broke in two. According to Coast Guard officials, this incident
created the second largest oil spill in Alaskan history. Coast Guard
officials stressed that a response to a similar incident above the
Arctic Circle would be even more difficult due to the limited
infrastructure--hangars, ports, communications systems, berthing--and
minimal Coast Guard assets operating in the remote Arctic regions. The
former Coast Guard District Commander in Alaska stressed that as
commercial vessel and barge traffic grows in northern and western
Alaska, the Bering Strait will become the newest chokepoint on the
planet and each large vessel will pose a "Selendang" risk to the U.S.
Arctic.
Figure 6: The Grounding of the Vessel Selendang Ayu in the Aleutian
Chain:
[Refer to PDF for image: photograph]
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
[End of figure]
In addition, the Coast Guard's current District Commander in Alaska
told us that responding to a large oil spill in the Arctic caused by
an incident such as a vessel collision in the Bering Strait was one of
his biggest Arctic concerns and the former Commandant of the Coast
Guard has also publicly commented on the agency's limited response
resources and capabilities to address a major spill in the Arctic
Ocean. Recognizing these limitations, Coast Guard District 17 and
Sector Anchorage plan to conduct an Ecological Risk Assessment--a
consensus building exercise for federal, state, local and tribal
responders to evaluate the relative harm of oil spill clean-up
strategies on the marine and human environment--along a stretch of
Arctic coastline near Kivalina beginning in winter of 2010.[Footnote
66] Once complete, the assessment data will be available for refining
existing oil spill contingency plans.
Another effort which provided insight into the Coast Guard's future
Arctic requirements with regard to oil spills was a March 2010
tabletop exercise involving federal, state, tribal, and local leaders
in the United States and Canada, including the U.S. and Canadian Coast
Guards. As mentioned previously, the 2010 CANUSNORTH tabletop exercise
was a 2-day event to practice a joint response to an oil spill on the
U.S.-Canada border in the Arctic. The exercise's objective was to
raise awareness of the challenges associated with an oil spill
response in the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Arctic region and to improve
joint response operations between the United States, Canada, and
regional stakeholders. The after-action report for this exercise
identified both strengths and areas for improvement such as the need
to learn more about waste disposal methods in the Arctic and the need
to verify the usability of existing dormant runways along the North
Slope region.
The Coast Guard and others have limited scientific information on how
oil behaves in icy environments but several research efforts are
underway which may help inform the Coast Guard's Arctic requirements.
Officials from the Coast Guard, NOAA, and other agencies have noted
the general lack of information on how oil behaves in icy
environments, which is important for conducting injury assessments and
developing response and restoration strategies. Coast Guard and NOAA
officials told us that the most prominent research on the properties
of spilled oil in icy water and the effectiveness of potential
response techniques has been conducted by a joint industry program
coordinated by the Norwegian research company SINTEF. The SINTEF
researchers obtained permission from the Norwegian government to put
actual crude oil into the sea in carefully controlled conditions, thus
enabling the testing of oil behavior and cleanup effectiveness in ice
conditions closely similar to those that might be encountered in an
Arctic oil spill emergency. According to Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Regulation, and Enforcement officials, their Technology
Research Assessment Program funds and conducts state-of-the-art cold-
water spill response research in collaboration with the Coast Guard,
SINTEF, and others. In addition, Coast Guard officials report that the
agency's Research and Development Center has an ongoing project to
develop oil-in-ice response technology.[Footnote 67] Coast Guard
officials stated that the Norwegian research and other oil-in-ice
research efforts improve their understanding of the agency's future
Arctic requirements for marine environmental protection.
Aids to Navigation: The Coast Guard reports that it currently
maintains 37 Aids to Navigation--such as buoys, lights, and signs--
along the Western coast of Alaska and plans to reestablish its only
Aid to Navigation above the Arctic Circle in August 2010.[Footnote 68]
Coast Guard officials have learned from their experience maintaining
Aids to Navigation in Alaska that Arctic ice conditions complicate the
deployment of aids; there is a lack of basic data to inform aid
placement and heavy ice conditions make it difficult to keep water-
based aids in fixed position. Coast Guard officials reported that due
to these difficulties, all Aids to Navigation in the region are land-
based and the agency would need to invest more resources--time,
cutters, and money--to maintain floating Aids to Navigation in the
Arctic. District 17 officials reported that water-based Aids to
Navigation are needed because the waters immediately offshore the
Arctic coast are typically very shallow and marine traffic often needs
to remain 8-10 nautical miles (or farther) offshore. According to
Coast Guard officials, at this distance, a typical land-based Aids to
Navigation is not visible. In 2008 and 2009 the Coast Guard conducted
waterways analysis trips to the Arctic to determine current and future
Aids to Navigation needs in some parts of the Arctic.[Footnote 69]
Coast Guard personnel have also interviewed regional experts to
determine hazards, needs, and typical waterways to inform their
decisions about which areas need greater attention, new aids, or both.
Coast Guard District 17 officials described the need to deploy
seasonal Aids to Navigation infrastructure; research technical
solutions to power unmanned lighted Aids to Navigation in Arctic
regions; develop competency in servicing non-solar-powered aids;
develop skills in designing, constructing, and maintaining year-round
aids in the shallow water off Alaska's North Slope; and work with the
International Maritime Organization to establish a Bering Strait
traffic management scheme.[Footnote 70] According to Coast Guard
officials, an increase in Arctic vessel traffic may increase the
importance of Aids to Navigation to prevent disasters, collisions, and
wrecks in the region.
[End of section]
Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Stephen L. Caldwell, (202) 512-9610 or caldwells@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
In addition to the contact above, Dawn Hoff, Assistant Director; Dan
Klabunde, Analyst-in-Charge; Sylvia Bascopé; Claudia Becker; Geoff
Hamilton; Amanda Miller; Jessica Orr; and Steven Putansu made key
contributions to this report.
[End of section]
Related GAO Products:
Department of Homeland Security: Assessments of Selected Complex
Acquisitions. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-588SP].
Washington, D.C.: June 30, 2010.
Coast Guard: Service Has Taken Steps to Address Historic Personnel
Problems, but It Is too Soon to Assess the Impact of These Efforts.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-268R]. Washington,
D.C.: January 29, 2010.
Coast Guard, Better Logistics Planning Needed to Aid Operational
Decisions Related to the Deployment of the National Security Cutter
and Its Support Assets. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-947]. Washington, D.C.: July 17,
2009.
Coast Guard: Observations on the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget and Related
Performance and Management Challenges. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-810T]. Washington, D.C.: July 7,
2009.
Maritime Security: Vessel Tracking Systems Provide Key Information,
but the Need for Duplicate Data Should Be Reviewed. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-337]. Washington, D.C.: March 17,
2009.
Maritime Security: National Strategy and Supporting Plans Were
Generally Well-Developed and Are Being Implemented. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-672]. Washington, D.C.: June 20,
2008.
Coast Guard: Condition of Some Aids-to-Navigation and Domestic
Icebreaking Vessels Has Declined; Effect on Mission Performance
Appears Mixed. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-979].
Washington, D.C.: September 22, 2006.
Results-Oriented Government: Practices That Can Help Enhance and
Sustain Collaboration among Federal Agencies. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15]. Washington, D.C.: October 21,
2005.
Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and Transformation: Lessons Learned
for a Department of Homeland Security and Other Federal Agencies.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-293SP]. Washington,
D.C.: November 14. 2002.
Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1]. Washington, D.C.:
November 1999.
Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government Performance
and Results Act. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/GGD-96-118]. Washington, D.C.: June
1996.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008-3049, "Circum-Arctic
Resource Appraisal: Estimates of Undiscovered Oil and Gas North of the
Arctic Circle" (July 23, 2008).
[2] All Arctic stakeholders do not define the Arctic geographical area
the same way. Federal law relating to Arctic research, for example,
defines the Arctic as all U.S and foreign territory north of the
Arctic Circle and all U.S. territory north and west of the boundary
formed by the Porcupine, Yukon, and Kuskokwin Rivers [in Alaska]; all
contiguous seas including the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort, Bering,
and Chuchki Seas; and the Aleutian Chain. Pub. L. No. 98-373, 98 Stat.
1248 (1984). For the purposes of this report, we are limiting our
analysis to a more specific definition of the Arctic-the more remote
region above the Arctic Circle.
[3] GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1]
(Washington, D.C.: November 1999).
[4] Coast Guard Sectors run all missions at the local and port level,
such as search and rescue, port security, environmental protection,
and law enforcement in ports and surrounding waters, and oversee a
number of smaller Coast Guard units, including small cutters, small
boat stations, and Aids to Navigation teams. Coast Guard Districts
oversee Sectors, other Coast Guard units, such as Air Stations, and
major buoy tenders, among other assets. Sector Anchorage has the
largest geographical area of responsibility in the nation, which
includes the North Slope, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Bristol Bay (with
the world's largest run of sockeye salmon), Kodiak Island, Kenai
Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands.
[5] Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993).
[6] The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is part of the
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the
University of Colorado at Boulder. NSIDC supports research into our
world's frozen realms: the snow, ice, glaciers, frozen ground, and
climate interactions that make up Earth's cryosphere. NSIDC manages
and distributes scientific data, creates tools for data access,
supports data users, performs scientific research, and educates the
public about the cryosphere.
[7] A Joint Coast Guard /U.S. Navy Statement on Arctic ice terminology
supports usage of the term "ice diminished" rather than "ice free"
because both agencies recognize that the region will continue to
remain ice-covered during the wintertime through the end of this
century and the current and projected decline in Arctic sea ice is
highly variable from year to year.
[8] The Department of Interior announced on May 27, 2010, that
applications for permits to drill Shell's 5 wells will not be
considered until 2011 because of the need for further information-
gathering, evaluation of proposed drilling technology, and evaluation
of oil spill response capabilities for Arctic waters.
[9] This decision was contained in a final rule that implements the
Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Fish Resources of the Arctic
Management Area and Amendment 29 to the Fishery Management Plan for
Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs. The Arctic FMP and
Amendment 29 to the Crab FMP establish sustainable management of
commercial fishing in the Arctic Management Area and move the northern
boundary of the Crab FMP out of the Arctic Management Area south to
the Bering Strait. 74 Fed. Reg. 56,734 (2009) (effective Dec. 3, 2009).
[10] Under UNCLOS, an EEZ is a maritime zone beyond and adjacent to
the territorial sea that may not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from
the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is
measured. Within the EEZ, the coastal state has sovereign rights for
the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing natural
resources, both living and nonliving, of the seabed, subsoil, and the
superjacent waters and, with regard to other activities, for the
economic exploitation and exploration of the zone (e.g., the
production of energy from the water, currents, and winds).
[11] The Ottawa Declaration of 1996 formally established the Arctic
Council as a high-level intergovernmental forum. The Ottawa
Declaration was a political declaration signed in Ottawa by
representatives of the governments of Canada, Denmark (including
Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian
Federation, Sweden, and the United States.
[12] The IMO is a United Nations specialized agency with
responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the
prevention of marine pollution by ships.
[13] The directive spells out six policy objectives: (1) meet national
security and homeland security needs relevant to the Arctic region;
(2) protect the Arctic environment and conserve its biological
resources; (3) ensure that natural resource management and economic
development in the region are environmentally sustainable; (4)
strengthen institutions for cooperation among the eight Arctic
nations; (5) involve the Arctic's indigenous communities in decisions
that affect them; and (6) enhance scientific monitoring and research
into local, regional, and global environmental issues.
[14] On March 1, 2010, DHS published A Plan to Develop a Tribal
Consultation and Coordination Policy Implementing Executive Order
13175, which recognizes that to increase internal communication and
collaboration, it is imperative that DHS have staff dedicated to
working with, and improving, relations with the 229 federally
recognized tribes in Alaska.
[15] The Coast Guard's 11 statutory missions are (1) ports, waterways,
and coastal security; (2) migrant interdiction; (3) defense readiness;
(4) drug interdiction; (5) other law enforcement; (6) search and
rescue; (7) living marine resources; (8) Aids to Navigation; (9) ice
operations; (10) marine environmental protection; and (11) marine
safety.
[16] In December 2002, the IMO issued a set of voluntary guidelines
for ships operating in Arctic ice-covered waters. The guidelines apply
to passenger and cargo ships of 500 gross tonnage or more engaged in
international voyages. They do not apply to fishing vessels, military
vessels, pleasure yachts, and smaller cargo ships. The guidelines are
intended to promote safety and prevent pollution in the Arctic, and
they include provisions on ship construction, ship equipment related
to navigation, crew training, and operation of the ship. For example,
the guidelines require ships to carry fully enclosed lifeboats or to
carry tarpaulins to cover their lifeboats and require the crew to
include at least one ice navigator with documented evidence of having
completed an ice navigation training program. The guidelines are
currently being updated with a targeted completion date in 2010 though
they would likely not be adopted until 2012.
[17] The Arctic Council's Search and Rescue Task Force was formed in
April 2009 with a mandate to develop a SAR agreement for the Arctic
and has been asked to finalize the agreement in time to be presented
for adoption by the Arctic Council at its Ministerial meeting in
spring 2011.
[18] Since 2003, the United States has been gathering and analyzing
seismic and bathymetric data to determine its extended continental
shelf. Bathymetric data provide a three-dimensional map of the ocean
floor. Seismic data provide a cross-section view of what is beneath
the ocean floor. From that cross-view, scientists can derive
information on the depth, thickness, geometry, and other
characteristics of the geological layers stacked on top of one another.
[19] More specifically, the Coast Guard has a long-standing
relationship with the Northeast Border Guard Directorate of the
Federal Security Service of Russia--a Russian counterpart to the Coast
Guard--which is tasked with guaranteeing the safety of marine routes
and coastal waters of the Russian Federation.
[20] NOAA, Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force, and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration signed a Memorandum of Agreement, Interagency
Memorandum of Agreement for the United States Satellite-Aided Search
and Rescue System, effective as of February 25, 2010. The memorandum
supersedes agreements signed in 1998 and 2003.
[21] The operation and maintenance of Coast Guard icebreakers was
funded through NSF's budget in fiscal years 2006 through 2009, which,
according to Coast Guard officials, presented challenges to
maintaining the polar icebreaker fleet and ensuring Coast Guard crews
are properly trained. Fiscal year 2010 appropriations (Pub. L. No. 111-
117, 123 Stat. 30304, 3145 (2009)), however, directed the transfer of
the $54 million icebreaker budget from NSF to the Coast Guard and a
new agreement governing the relationship between the Coast Guard and
NSF temporarily supersedes their 2005 agreement. In addition, the DHS
Office of Inspector General is currently assessing the Coast Guard's
need for heavy-duty icebreakers to accomplish its missions.
[22] See GAO, Results-oriented Government: Practices That Can Help
Enhance and Sustain Collaboration Among Federal Agencies, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-15] (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 21,
2005).
[23] Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps, A Cooperative
Strategy for 21st Century Seapower (October 2007). Additionally, the
implementation document for this strategy--Naval Operations Strategy
2010: Implementing the Maritime Strategy--was released in April 2010
and discusses strategy and resource needs in the Arctic.
[24] For more on the National Strategy for Maritime Security see GAO,
Maritime Security: National Strategy and Supporting Plans Were
Generally Well-Developed and Are Being Implemented, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-672] (Washington, D.C.: June 20,
2008).
[25] The 1965 U.S. Navy-U.S. Treasury Memorandum of Agreement was
executed to permit consolidation of the icebreaker fleet under one
agency. That rationale was reinforced by a 1982 Roles and Missions
Study which stated that polar icebreakers should be centrally managed
by one agency and that the Coast Guard was the appropriate one due to
the multimission nature of polar ice operations. This memorandum of
agreement was updated in 2008. The signatories were DOD and DHS and
the agreement included an update on responsibilities for coastal
security.
[26] Local government officials we interviewed were either borough or
city government officials. Alaska's constitution and state laws allow
for several types of regional and local government units--such as
boroughs, which are units of government that are similar to the
counties found in many other states. About one-third of Alaska is made
up of 16 organized boroughs. The remaining two-thirds of the state is
sparsely populated land that is considered a single "unorganized
borough."
[27] For the purposes of this report, Alaska Native interest groups
include Alaska Native Tribal councils, regional and village
corporations, as well as other Alaska Native organizations.
[28] AIS equipment transmits information such as the name of the
vessel, its position, speed, course, and destination to receivers
within range of its broadcast, allowing AIS-equipped vessels to be
tracked when they are operating in coastal areas, inland waterways,
and ports. Receivers may be installed on other vessels, land stations,
or other locations. Coast Guard personnel can monitor screens
transmitting information on the tracked vessels. The Marine Exchange
of Alaska operates a network of AIS receivers throughout Alaska to
capture vessel transmissions (name, position, course, speed, etc) for
the purposes of tracking the vessels operating in and around Alaska's
waterways, including the Arctic region.
[29] GAO, Highlights of a GAO Forum: Mergers and Transformation:
Lessons Learned for a Department of Homeland Security and Other
Federal Agencies, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-293SP] (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 14.
2002).
[30] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1].
[31] The explanatory statement accompanying the DHS fiscal year 2008
appropriations directed the Coast Guard to submit a report that
assesses the Coast Guard's Arctic mission capability and an analysis
of the effect a changing environment may have on the current and
projected polar operations, including any additional resources in the
form of personnel, equipment, and vessels. In response, the Coast
Guard produced a December 2008 "Report to Congress: U.S. Coast Guard
Polar Operations." This report provided an overview of the Arctic and
Antarctic operating environments and Coast Guard's current
capabilities, and described a proposed High Latitude Study to fully
determine the scope of mission requirements. Then, in the president's
fiscal year 2009 budget request, the Coast Guard requested and a House
report accompanying the DHS fiscal year 2009 appropriations directed
$200,000 for this study. Most recently, the conference report
accompanying the DHS fiscal year 2010 appropriations directed the
agency to continue its analysis of national mission needs in the high
latitude regions to inform national polar policy.
[32] A mission analysis report is the first step in a major system
acquisition continuum. According to the Coast Guard's Major Systems
Acquisition Manual, a mission analysis report is a collection, cross
analysis, and documentation of numerous feeder studies and analyses
that look across a number of different mission areas. The mission
analysis report is not intended to be an asset-oriented analysis. The
mission analysis report has two parts--part 1 lays out the assessment
of a deficiency in functional capability which will prevent the Coast
Guard from adequately conducting missions now or in the future, and
part 2 provides justification and preliminary options for satisfying
mission capability gaps.
[33] The definition of the Arctic used in the High Latitude Study is
the federal definition established by the Arctic Research and Policy
Act of 1984.
[34] The Coast Guard expects the fleet mix analysis to assist in
determining capability-capacity-performance sensitivities and serve as
one tool, among many, in making future capability requirements
determinations, including future fleet mix decisions. According to
Coast Guard officials, the agency plans to update this fleet mix
analysis every 4 years and use it as a basis to update the numbers and
types of assets needed for the Deepwater program. The Deepwater
Program--the largest acquisition program in the Coast Guard's history-
-began in the late 1990s as an effort to recapitalize the Coast
Guard's operational fleet. The program now includes projects to build
or modernize five classes each of ships and aircraft, and procurement
of other capabilities.
[35] Small response boats are 25-feet long and capable of fast and
high-speed maneuvering tactics. The MH-65 is the Coast Guard's main
helicopter and used in search and rescue, drug interdiction, and
homeland security missions. According to the Coast Guard, the MH-65 is
capable of operating in the polar environment but requires a heated
hangar for storage and maintenance between flights. It must also avoid
operating in conditions of visible moisture that will cause ice to
form on the aircraft and avoid temperatures below -13 degrees
Fahrenheit. The Arctic limitations of these assets are discussed later
in this report.
[36] The HC-130 Hercules is a long-range surveillance and transport,
fixed-wing aircraft that is used to perform a wide variety of missions.
[37] While Arctic domain awareness flights contribute to the Coast
Guard's awareness of vessel traffic in the Arctic, the agency is also
in the process of acquiring more AIS real-time vessel traffic data in
the Arctic. According to officials at the Marine Exchange of Alaska, a
nonprofit which sells AIS data to the Coast Guard, AIS may provide
cheaper and more comprehensive vessel tracking data than Arctic domain
awareness flights. However, Coast Guard officials told us that AIS is
not a panacea as (1) only vessels weighing over 300 tons are required
to have AIS on board and (2) vessels that do not want to be detected
are unlikely to comply with the AIS requirement or may spoof another
ship's AIS signal. For more on this see GAO, Maritime Security: Vessel
Tracking Systems Provide Key Information, but the Need for Duplicate
Data Should Be Reviewed, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-337] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 17,
2009).
[38] The Coast Guard has partnered with NOAA to track methane and
carbon dioxide emissions over Alaska using instruments on Coast
Guard's HC-130 aircraft during Arctic domain awareness flights.
[39] The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 is the primary
legislative framework through which agencies are required to set
strategic goals, measure performance, and report on the degree to
which goals were met.
[40] See GAO, Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government
Performance and Results Act, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/GGD-96-118] (Washington, D.C.: June
1996).
[41] The process of achieving maritime domain awareness includes: (1)
collection of information, (2) fusion of information from different
sources, (3) analysis through the evaluation and interpretation of
information, and (4) dissemination of information to decision makers,
with the goal of identifying risks and threats before they turn into
catastrophic events.
[42] See Report to Congress: U.S. Coast Guard Polar Operations
(December 2008).
[43] A Coast Guard official explained that this is due to magnetic
interference at high latitudes and noted that satellite communications
using UHF bandwidth or line-of-sight radio frequencies (VHF-FM/AM) are
not similarly affected.
[44] Rescue 21 is designed to improve the Coast Guard's ability to
execute all missions in the coastal zone, and, according to the Coast
Guard, is essential to its search and rescue mission. The Coast Guard
is deploying Rescue 21 to locations across the United States. See GAO,
Department of Homeland Security: Assessments of Selected Complex
Acquisitions, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-588SP]
(Washington, D.C.: June 30, 2010).
[45] The Alaska Joint Terrorism Task Force is comprised of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and 14 core agencies, which conduct
counterterrorism investigations and intelligence collection, analysis,
and dissemination throughout Alaska; prepare for special events
management; and conduct crisis management.
[46] The MH-60 is the Coast Guard's medium-range recovery helicopter.
[47] The 378-foot High Endurance Cutter class are the largest cutters
ever built for the Coast Guard. Equipped with a helicopter flight
deck, retractable hangar, and the facilities to support helicopter
deployment, the High Endurance Cutter is versatile and capable of
performing a variety of missions, and operates throughout the world's
oceans. Medium Endurance Cutters are helicopter-capable medium-range,
medium-endurance platforms.
[48] Under Coast Guard scheduling policy, a 1.0 allocation equates to
a full year of scheduled cutter days. A 2.0 allocation means two
cutters are always scheduled to be on patrol. Cutters deploy from
Kodiak, Ketchikan, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, and Hawaii. Lost
cutter days occur when cutters are unable to deploy due to engineering
difficulties, maintenance that exceeded planned days, or unexpected
extensions for the cutter(s) on patrol, among other things.
[49] The National Security Cutter is the largest and most technically
advanced class of cutter in the Coast Guard, with capabilities for
maritime homeland security, law enforcement, and national defense
missions. As we previously reported in 2009 [GAO, Coast Guard, Better
Logistics Planning Needed to Aid Operational Decisions Related to the
Deployment of the National Security Cutter and Its Support Assets,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-947] (Washington, D.C.:
July 17, 2009)], as a result of the increased capabilities of the
National Security Cutters, the Coast Guard plans to replace 12 of the
aging 378' High Endurance cutters that have been in service since the
1960s, with 8 National Security Cutters--however, only 5 National
Security Cutters have been funded to date. The Offshore Patrol Cutter
will complement the Coast Guard's legacy fleet and next-generation
cutters to extend operational capabilities across the mission spectrum.
[50] The problem of infrastructure in the Arctic is not limited to the
Coast Guard. Senior Coast Guard officials noted that the Arctic in
general has limited infrastructure and almost no federal capacity.
[51] For more on this see GAO, Coast Guard: Service Has Taken Steps to
Address Historic Personnel Problems, but It Is too Soon to Assess the
Impact of These Efforts [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-268R] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 29,
2010).
[52] In addition, the DHS Office of Inspector General is currently
assessing the Coast Guard's need for heavy-duty icebreakers to
accomplish its missions.
[53] See GAO, Coast Guard: Observations on the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget
and Related Performance and Management Challenges, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-810T] (Washington, D.C.: July 7,
2009).
[54] Secretarial Order 3302, issued June 18, 2010 renamed the Mineral
Management Service to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Regulation and Enforcement. The change was effective immediately.
[55] Introduced by Congress in 1998, the Denali Commission is an
independent federal agency designed to provide critical utilities,
infrastructure, and economic support throughout Alaska. With the
creation of the Denali Commission, Congress acknowledged the need for
increased interagency cooperation and focus on Alaska's remote
communities.
[56] Village and regional corporations were established pursuant to
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act primarily as vehicles for
distributing land and monetary benefits to Alaska Natives to provide a
fair and just settlement of aboriginal land claims in Alaska. Pub. L.
No. 92-203, 85 Stat. 688 (1971).
[57] The IMO is an organization of 160 member countries with observers
from governmental, industry, environmental, public interest, and labor
organizations that is concerned with the safety of shipping and
cleaner oceans. To achieve its objectives, the IMO has promoted the
adoption of some 30 conventions and protocols, and has adopted well
over 700 codes and recommendations concerning maritime safety, the
prevention of pollution, and related matters.
[58] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO/AIMD-00-21.3.1].
[59] Coast Guard Sectors run all missions at the local and port level,
such as search and rescue, port security, environmental protection,
and law enforcement in ports and surrounding waters, and oversee a
number of smaller Coast Guard units, including small cutters, small
boat stations, and Aids to Navigation teams. Coast Guard Districts
oversee Sectors, other Coast Guard units, such as Air Stations, and
major buoy tenders, among other assets. Sector Anchorage has the
largest geographical Area of Responsibility in the nation, which
includes the North Slope, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Bristol Bay, Kodiak
Island, Kenai Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands.
[60] Arctic domain awareness flights provide visibility on seasonal
mining operations and coastal erosion while supporting the Coast
Guard's homeland security mission, maritime domain awareness, and
scientific research.
[61] Pub. L. No. 103-62, 107 Stat. 285 (1993).
[62] The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General
is currently assessing the Coast Guard's need for heavy-duty
icebreakers to accomplish its missions.
[63] Congressional direction accompanying the DHS Appropriations Act,
2010 (Pub. L. No. 111-83, 123 Stat. 2142 (2009) specified that of
additional funding provided, that $5.2 million is funded in the AC&I
direct personnel costs, PPA (program, project, and activity), and
within that amount, the Coast Guard shall begin survey and design and
conduct a business case analysis for either a new heavy polar
icebreaker class or a major life extension project for existing heavy
icebreakers (H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-298, at 89 (2009) incorporating
direction specified in Senate Report No. 111-31, at 78 (2009)).
[64] Alaska Clean Seas is a non-profit cooperative that provides
response services to numerous other oil and gas companies on Alaska's
North Slope.
[65] The Selendang Ayu ran aground off of Unalaska Island in the
Aleutian Chain, broke in two, and spilled its cargo of soybeans and
approximately 336,000 gallons of oil.
[66] The assessment team is made up of federal and state response
agencies, Alaska Native villages, subsistence groups, and commercial
waterway users, among others.
[67] In addition, the Coast Guard chairs the Interagency Coordinating
Committee for Oil Pollution Research, which is tasked with preparing a
federal oil pollution research and development plan and promoting
cooperation among industry, universities, research institutions, state
governments, and other nations through information sharing,
coordinated planning, and joint funding of oil pollution research
projects. The committee currently serves as a forum for its federal
members to coordinate oil pollution research activities, but no
funding has been appropriated by Congress since 1995.
[68] The Coast Guard has statutory authority to operate and maintain a
system of maritime aids to facilitate navigation and to prevent
disasters, collisions, and wrecks. In September 2006 we reported that
to fulfill this mission, the Coast Guard operates over 53,000 aids.
These Aids to Navigation are like road signs of the waterways and are
placed along coasts and navigable waters as guides to mark safe water
and to assist mariners in determining their position in relation to
land and hidden dangers. These aids consist of both floating aids,
such as buoys, and fixed aids, such as lights or signs mounted on
pilings. For more on this see GAO, Coast Guard: Condition of Some Aids-
to-Navigation and Domestic Icebreaking Vessels has Declined; Effect on
Mission Performance Appears Mixed, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-979] (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 22,
2006).
[69] Waterways Analysis and Management System studies ensure that
current aids are necessary elements of the Aids to Navigation system
in particular waterways. They also evaluate the aids to determine
their effectiveness, which often leads to alterations of technical
aspects of the aids and establishment or disestablishment of aids in
order to meet changing needs in waterways.
[70] A Bering Strait traffic management scheme would separate traffic
with "lanes" to reduce the likelihood of collisions or other
casualties.
[End of section]
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