CARRIERS THAT RECEIVED FINAL HOLD-IN-RATES, FISCAL YEAR 19871

First 6 months of fiscal year 1987. Annual compensation cannot be accurately estimated because the amount of hold-in subsidy depends on how many and when carriers file notice to leave points, how long they are held in, and how promptly claims are filed.

CARRIERS RECEIVING INTERIM HOLD-IN COMPENSATION, FISCAL YEAR 19871

First 6 months of fiscal year 1987. Annual compensation cannot be accurately estimated because the amount of hold-in subsidy depends on how many and when carriers file notice to leave points, how long they are held in, and how promptly claims are filed.

COAST GUARD

SUMMARY OF FISCAL YEAR 1988 PROGRAM

The U.S. Coast Guard, as it is known today, was established on January 28, 1915, through the merger of the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was transferred to the Coast Guard followed by the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation in 1942. The Coast Guard has as its primary responsibilities the enforcement of all applicable Federal laws on the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; promotion of safety of life and property at sea; assistance to navigation; protection of the marine environment; and maintenance of a state of readiness to function as a specialized service in the Navy in time of war (14 U.S.C. 1, 2).

The Committee recommends a total program level of $2,677,550,000 for the activities of the Coast Guard in fiscal year 1988. The following table summarizes the Committee's recommendations:

The "Operating expenses" appropriation provides funds for the operation and maintenance of multipurpose vessels, aircraft, and shore units strategically located along the coasts and inland waterways of the United States and in selected areas overseas.

The program activities of this appropriation fall into the following categories:

Search and rescue.-One of its earliest and most traditional missions, the Coast Guard maintains a nationwide system of boats, aircraft, cutters, and rescue coordination centers on 24-hour alert.

Aids to navigation.-To help the mariner determine his location and avoid accident, the Coast Guard maintains a network of manned and unmanned aids to navigation along our coasts and on our inland waterways, and operates radio stations in the United States and abroad to serve the needs of the armed services and marine and air commerce.

Marine safety.-The Coast Guard insures compliance with Federal statutes and regulations designed to improve safety in the merchant marine industry and operates a recreational boating safety program.

Marine environmental protection.-The primary objectives of this program are to minimize the dangers of marine pollution and to assure the safety and security of U.S. ports and waterways.

Enforcement of laws and treaties.-The Coast Guard is the principal maritime enforcement agency with regard to Federal laws on the navigable waters of the United States and the high seas, including fisheries, drug smuggling, illegal immigration, and hijacking of vessels. Drug law enforcement now consumes the largest amount of operating expenses

resources.

Ice operations. In the Arctic and Antarctic, the Coast Guard icebreakers escort supply ships, support research activities, and Department of Defense operations, survey uncharted waters, and collect scientific data. The Coast Guard also assists commercial vessels through icecovered waters.

Military readiness.-During peacetime the Coast Guard maintains an effective state of military preparedness to operate as a service in the Navy in time of war or national emergency at the direction of the President. As such the Coast Guard has primary responsibility for ports, waterways, and navigable waters up to 200 miles offshore.

Headquarters administration.—The headquarters administration activity provides executive direction and servicewide administrative support at the headquarters location of the Coast Guard.

The Committee recommendation for Coast Guard operating expenses is $1,952,731,000, including $15,000,000 from the "Boat safety" account. This is $12,082,000 below the estimate, $73,331,000 over the appropriation approved by the House, and $155,731,000 over the enacted fiscal year 1987 appropriation. The Committee allowance restores one-half of the House reductions for supplies and materials and slippage in the 270 medium endurance cutter program. The Committee also assumes additional program efficiencies totaling $7,078,000.

The amount provided includes funding necessary for part year operation of the two aerostats based in the Bahamas (Cariball and Cariball II). The Committee understands that the Coast Guard and Customs Service are working out an agreement for the orderly transfer of operational responsibilities for these two assets from the Customs Service to the Coast Guard during fiscal 1988. The Committee expects that the two agencies, pending a final agreement, will cooperate to assure that there is no interruption in the operations of the aerostats.

The Committee expects that the amount recommended will be adequate to support the 38,036 military positions and 4,709 civilian positions requested in the budget. The Committee also intends that this appropriation will cover the costs of the anticipated military pay raise.

DRUG INTERDICTION

The Committee agrees with the House in again including bill language setting a minimum level of drug enforcement funding. Under this provision, not less than $447,000,000 of the funds recommended for operating expenses must be committed to drug enforcement. This is an increase of more than $74,000,000, or 19.8 percent, over the level earmarked for drug enforcement for the current fiscal year.

The importance of aggressive prosecution of this vital mission is hard to overemphasize in light of the horrible toll exacted by drug abuse and the corrupting influence of trafficking organizations.

The Committee is, therefore, disturbed to note that the Coast Guard, despite continuing increases in funding, projects no significant change in the level of general law enforcement effort as measured by cutter and aircraft operating hours. In fact, both cutter hours and aircraft

hours are estimated to decline from the levels originally predicted for the current fiscal year (from 217,500 to 210,000 hours for cutters and from 31,880 to 27,000 hours for aircraft). The respective estimates for fiscal 1988 are: Cutters-217,500 hours; aircraft-28,000 hours.

When asked to explain this apparent anomaly at this year's hearings, the Coast Guard responded:

Fiscal year 1988 budget projections reflected the reality that there would be continued pressure to reduce expenditures and thus restrict budgetary growth.

However that may be, the Committee is again increasing the resources allotted to interdiction and expects that this higher level of funding will translate into proportionally higher levels of law enforcement operations.

The Committee also agrees with the House on the need for more reliable and objective measures of program performance in drug enforcement. In the absence of such indicators, it is extremely difficult to make informed judgments with respect to the allocation of scarce resources among the various programs and agencies that have, at least ostensibly, some role in the national effort to control drug abuse and suppress trafficking in illicit substances. This, of course, compounds the problems of interagency coordination and policy integration that continue to plague the antidrug abuse effort. Without better performance measures, a genuinely comprehensive national drug abuse strategy that strikes the proper balance between supply reduction and demand reduction will be little more than a pious hope.

The Committee also shares the House frustration at the recent contretemps between the Coast Guard and Customs Service with respect to the air interdiction program. The Committee expects this dispute to be resolved forthwith within the guidelines recently established by the National Drug Policy Board.

The Committee notes the decline in marijuana seized in the MidAtlantic and New England regions of the United States and hopes that this is an indication that the increased resources provided to the Coast Guard in the last several years are producing favorable results. In calendar 1986, for example, the Coast Guard made 24 seizures of marijuana totaling 624 pounds in this region. As of June 30 of this year, marijuana seizures amounted to only 3 pounds. On the other hand, the dramatic increases in cocaine seizures in these same areas give rise to the concern that Coast Guard efforts are simply resulting in changing patterns in drug smuggling routes and the nature of the contraband carried. Therefore, the Committee expects that the additional law enforcement resources provided in this bill will be utilized, in part, to counteract this threat, especially along the New York and New Jersey shoreline.

OIL SPILL PREVENTION STUDY

Last year the Committee directed the Coast Guard to conduct a study of oil spill prevention in restricted waterways focusing on a series of recent major oil spills occurring in the Delaware River. The study has not been completed. However, the Coast Guard has apparently begun to initiate measures to prevent future spills in the Delaware. As a result of Coast Guard meetings with the Marine Advisory Committee, the Coast Pilot has been amended and new navigation guidelines for the bay and the Delaware River have been issued. These guidelines include: the requirement that vessels transiting above the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal have a manned anchor detail of two qualified personnel stationed on the forecastle; the requirement that vessels calling at Marcus Hook have tugs alongside and made fast between lighted buoy 6B and buoy 8B for anchoring or docking; the requirement that diesel vessels change over to lighter fuel to ensure better maneuverability prior to their arrival at the upper end of Liston Ridge; the requirement that it be established that both steering engines and all main generators are operational upon assuming responsibility for the pilotage of a vessel and during the initial master/pilot exchange of information, and the requirement that all steering and main propulsion failures are to be considered a hazardous condition and must be reported to the Coast Guard.

The Committee expects to receive the Coast Guard's full report on the study not later than October 31, 1987.

SHIPMENTS AND TRANSFERS OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

Shipments and transfers of hazardous materials potentially pose a very dangerous situation at our ports and waterfront facilities. The Coast Guard conducts inspection and enforcement activities at all ports where vessels transfer bulk and packaged hazardous materials to and from waterfront facilities.

However, the Coast Guard has no full-time hazardous materials inspectors. It conducts this inspection program in a manner similar to most of its other multimission programs. Some States also conduct similar inspections on waterfront facilities but the Coast Guard does not maintain information on which States are making inspections nor does it monitor the activities of those States which are known to make inspections. The Committee is concerned about inefficiencies resulting from a lack of coordination between the Coast Guard and the States, particularly in light of limitations on available Federal resources.

Therefore, the Committee directs the Coast Guard, in cooperation with the Research and Special Programs Administration, to establish and maintain an information baseline as to the scope and nature of State inspection activity so that improved coordination and more efficient use of inspection resources can be achieved.