Page 39: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 1990)

COAST GUARD

Overview Of Coast Guard's Fiscal Year 1991 Request

Table 1.—U.S. COAST GUARD FLEET

Vessel Type Length Number (in feet)

High Endurance Cutters 378 12

Medium Endurance Cutters 180-270 38

Surface Effect Ships 109 3

Buoy Tenders 65-180 79

Harbor Tugs 65 14

Icebreaker Tugs 140 9

Icebreakers 290-400 3

Patrol Boats 82-110 98

Training Cutter 295 1

Small Craft 16-63 2,000

TOTAL FLEET- 2,257

As tensions ease abroad, the U.S.

Coast Guard's role in defense readi- ness increases in importance. In ad- dition, the service has a central role in several of the most crucial topics facing the U.S. today—marine safe- ty, oil spill prevention and drug smuggling. The following is an over- view of the Coast Guard's Fiscal

Year 1991 Budget Request.

Search & Rescue

Operations

Search and Rescue (SAR) is one of the Coast Guard's oldest mis- sions. Rescuing those in peril at sea has priority over all other Coast

Guard peacetime missions. The

Coast Guard keeps a nationwide system of boats, aircraft, cutters and rescue coordination centers on 24- hour alert, ready to respond to ves- sels in distress.

The Coast Guard operates a mix of cutters, boats, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Table 1. shows the present fleet of vessels operated by the Coast Guard in U.S. coastal, harbor and inland waters.

As a result of Coast Guard SAR efforts between 1984 and 1988, more than 29,000 lives and $4.8 billion in property were saved.

The Coast Guard has requested $505.9 million for operating ex- penses for SAR, $70.9 million for acquisition, construction and im- provements (AC&I), and $5.9 mil- lion for research, development, test and evaluation.

Items of particular interest listed by the Coast Guard to effectively conduct its SAR operations in FY 1991 are: motor lifeboat replace- ment acquisition, the 378-foot heavy endurance cutter (WHEC)

FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and

Maintenance), and 210-foot me- dium endurance cutter (WMEC)

MMA (Midlife Maintenance Avail- ability).

Environmental

Protection

Perhaps the hottest topic in the news, marine environmental protec- tion is one of the Coast Guard's top priorities. Marine environmental re- sponse and port safety and security are the two major missions of the

Coast Guard's marine environmen- tal protection program.

As part of marine environmental response, the Coast Guard must minimize damage caused by pollu- tants released in the coastal zone and reduce the threat of spills of oil or hazardous substances.

Besides safeguarding shoreline property and facilities as part of port safety and security, the service must monitor oil transfer and haz- ardous cargo operations to prevent spills.

The Coast Guard has requested a total of $222.3 million for opera- tions, acquisition, construction and improvements and research in this area. Among the topics under dis- cussion are the acquisition of Na- tional Strike Force equipment and research into pollution response.

Law & Treaty

Enforcement

Between 1984-1988, the Coast

Guard confiscated nearly 4,300 tons of marijuana, 42,800 pounds of co- caine, seized 854 drug smugglers' vessels and issued more than 2,500 citations for fisheries law viola- tions.

The Coast Guard has requested $1.07 billion in operating, acquisi- tion and research funds for FY 1991.

Among the main areas of interest are the patrol boat capability re- placement, the WHEC FRAM,

WMEC MMA, and the develop- ment and evaluation of electro- optical sensor systems for USCG vessels.

Ice Operations

In the area of polar and domestic ice operations, the Coast Guard has requested $112 million in the FY91 budget. Polar icebreaker reliability improvement project, boat and cut- ter survey and design, C3 systems development and design (shipboard tactical information systems and lo- cal area network for cutters), the development of covert telecommu- nications and encryption systems and video sensor data transmission systems are among the major areas included in this program.

Aids To

Navigation

The Coast Guard has requested a total of $546.4 million in the FY91 budget for the aids to navigation

Table 2.—Overview of Coast Guard's

Budget Authority

Funding History program. Under AC&I, the service hopes to replace its current coastal and oceangoing buoy tender fleet.

Marine Safety

The Coast Guard's marine safety program consists of two major activ- ities: commercial vessel safety and recreational boating safety. The ser- vice has requested a total of $165.7 million to support such programs as marine fire research and develop- ment and fire safety engineering methodology in cutter design and modification. (Dollars in millions) 1984

Appropriation/Account Actual 1985

Actual 1986

Actual 1987

Actual 1988

Actual 1989

Actual 1990

Enacted 1991

Request +/(-) 90/91

Operating Expenses (1) $1,690.5 $1,753.6 $1,747.9 $1,907.3 $1,909.1 $2,122.4 $2,210.3 $2,391.4 $181.1

Acquisition, Construction and Improvements (2) 669.0 374.2 453.8 543.0 267.0 435.8 444.2 419.5 (24.7)

Environmental

Compliance/Ftestoration (3) - - - - - - - 7.0 7.0

Reserve Training 55.4 59.2 58.9 64.4 62.9 67.0 71.6 78.9 7.3

Research, Development,

Test and Evaluation 22.5 23.0 17.8 20.0 19.0 18.8 20.5 23.0 2.5

Alteration of Bridges (4) 8.6 13.6 5.0 0.0 0.9 13.5 2.3 - (2.3)

Boat Safety Account 12.5 28.6 33.1 32.6 22.5 29.0 29.9 30.0 0.1

Retired Pay 315.2 330.8 339.5 356.0 386.7 410.8 420.8 437.3 16.5

Pollution Funds 5.8 9.4 5.9 6.8 5.2 31.0 5.7 5.7 -

Miscellaneous Funds 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 -

TOTALS:

Current Dollars $2,779.5 $2,592.4 $2,661.9 $2,930.1 $2,673.3 $3,128.3 $3,205.3 $3,392.9 $187.6

Constant 1991 Dollars $3,478.0 $3,147.7 $3,153.6 $3,386.6 $2,987.4 $3,357.9 $3,316.8 $3,392.9 $76.1 (1) Includes from DOD: $115.0 in 1986; $90.0 in 1987; $105.0 for 'services-in-kind" and $3.0 for 100 LEDETS in 1988; $140.0 for "services- in-kind,* $60.0 "cash* and $6.0 for 200 LEDETS in 1989; $140.0 for "services-in-kind" and $160.0 "cash" in 1990. Includes from Boat

Safety: $15.0 in 1986 and 1987; $21.6 in 1988; $30.0 in 1989; $29.9 in 1990; and $30.0 in 1991. Includes $12.0 in new BA in 1988 from

FY88 $60M Reprogramming Supplemental. Includes $16.0 in 1989 from Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. Includes $4.5 transfer from

Acquisition, Construction & Improvements in 1989. (2) Includes from DOD: $300.0 in 1984; $235.0 in 1986; $245.0 in 1987; and $20.0 from Coastal Defense Augmentation Account in 1988.

In 1989: includes $50.3 MilCon Appropriation for Shore Facilities and $100.0 from Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988; reflects transfers of $4.5 to Operating Expenses and $5.0 to Alteration of Bridges. (3) Prior to FY 1991, activities of this nature were included in the Acquisition, Construction & Improvements appropriation. (4) Includes $5.0 transferfrom Acquisition, Construction & Improvements in 1989; legislation is pending to transfer this program to the Corps of Engineers. If transfer legislation is not enacted, $6.4 will be required to fund this program in FY 1991. 36 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News