On November 19, 2013, the Government Accountability Office
issued GAO Report 14-32, Maritime Security: DHS Could Benefit from Tracking
Progress in Implementing the Small Vessel Security Strategy. This report is of particular interest to us
here at the University of Findlay because our course Small Vessel Security for
Rural Communities was recently certified by DHS as AWR 311. The report can be found
at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-32.
Below are highlights from the report.
From the highlights:
Why GAO did this study: The Coast Guard estimates that there
were more than 22 million small vessels operating in the United States in 2012.
Terrorists, smugglers, and other criminals can use small vessels as platforms
for their activities because small vessels are generally unregulated and
largely anonymous. Law enforcement agencies face the challenge of
distinguishing between legitimate small vessel operators and the relatively few
individuals estimated to be engaged in illicit activities. DHS issued its SVSS
in April 2008 and its follow-on SVSS Implementation Plan in January 2011 to
help guide actions to mitigate the security risks arising from small vessels.
Given the importance of small vessel security, GAO was asked to review DHS’s
efforts in developing and implementing the SVSS Implementation Plan.
This report examines what actions, if any, DHS and its
components have taken to address small vessel security concerns, and the extent
to which they have implemented action items in the SVSS Implementation Plan.
GAO analyzed DHS documents; interviewed DHS officials; and visited two ports
selected on the basis of the volume of small vessel traffic and security
initiatives in place, among other things. While the results of the port visits
cannot be generalized across all ports, they provided insights on small vessel
security issues and operations.
What GAO found: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
and its components—such as the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border
Protection (CBP)—have started or completed initiatives to address small vessel
security risks, but DHS is not tracking the progress being made to address
action items in the Small Vessel Security Strategy (SVSS) Implementation Plan.
“Small vessels” are characterized as any watercraft—regardless of method of
propulsion—less than 300 gross tons, and used for recreational or commercial
purposes. DHS component officials GAO met with identified examples of key
initiatives that they have completed or have under way to enhance small vessel
security, including an initiative to help CBP better track small vessels
arriving from foreign locations and another to assist the Coast Guard in
assessing and monitoring small vessel launch sites. Although the SVSS
Implementation Plan states that DHS is to assess and update the plan, DHS has
not determined the progress its components and other relevant stakeholders—such
as the Department of Defense—are making in completing the action items and has
no current plans to do so. DHS officials stated that this is due, in part, to
budget constraints that make this a low priority. DHS officials stated that
updating the SVSS Implementation Plan would be valuable, and doing so is
particularly important since more than one component could be responsible for
action items in the plan. Accordingly, by systematically gathering information
from its components and other relevant stakeholders to regularly update the
progress they are making in addressing the action items in the plan, DHS could
help prioritize initiatives given constrained budgets and better identify
successes and lessons learned, among other things.
What GAO recommends: GAO recommends that DHS regularly
update the progress its components and other relevant stakeholders are making
in addressing action items in the SVSS Implementation Plan. DHS concurred with
the recommendation.
From the
main body of the report:
DHS officials we spoke with stated that there is no plan to
update the SVSS Implementation Plan because it is not a priority, given budget
constraints, and it is too early to measure the effectiveness of action items
in the plan. According to a senior DHS Policy official, although the SVSS
Implementation Plan states that DHS should assess and update the plan annually,
given these constraints, an annual review is too frequent. The senior DHS
official added that per the Secretary of Homeland Security’s direction, DHS
components are focusing on maintaining their ongoing operations under
constrained budgets, and so efforts to update the SVSS Implementation Plan are
not currently a priority…Coast Guard officials added that America’s Waterway
Watch—a program highlighted in the SVSS Implementation Plan that provides
outreach to the public, including the small vessel community, on awareness of
threats and how to report suspicious activity—may not receive funding in DHS’s
fiscal year 2014 appropriation…
DHS officials also stated that because the SVSS
Implementation Plan was issued in early 2011, it is too early to expect a
majority of the action items to be completed or, especially for the long-term
action items, to have been implemented. These officials stated that
accomplishing the SVSS’s goals and objectives through implementation of the
many action items in the SVSS Implementation Plan will require a significant
investment of time and resources, along with buy-in from state and local
maritime security stakeholders. Accordingly, it could take years to fully implement
some of the action items and determine whether they are effective…
Although it may be too early to measure the effectiveness of
some action items in the SVSS Implementation Plan, updating the progress made
in addressing the action items could help DHS and its components prioritize
their efforts given constrained budgets; better identify successes and lessons
learned; and enhance collaboration with federal, state, and local stakeholders
regarding small vessel security issues. The SVSS Implementation Plan states
that, because of risk, the unpredictability of budgets, policy changes, and
administrative priorities, the plan must be reviewed regularly to ensure that
it remains current and accurate. By engaging in this review process, the plan
states that it is intended to be a living document that provides a strategic
overview of participating agencies’ implementation of the SVSS. Standards for
Internal Control in the Federal Government calls for federal agencies to design
and implement control activities to enforce management’s directives.
Conclusions: Recognizing the risks posed by terrorists using
small vessels to attack targets or as a conveyance for terrorists and their
contraband to enter the United States, DHS issued its SVSS Implementation Plan
in January 2011 to help guide efforts to mitigate the security risks arising
from small vessels. DHS component agencies have completed some initiatives and
have other initiatives under way to address the risk of a small vessel attack,
but DHS is not gathering information on the progress its components or relevant
stakeholders are making to address action items in the SVSS Implementation Plan
and has no plans to do so. The SVSS Implementation Plan, by design, is to be
revised to accommodate new information about threats, technologies,
requirements, and lessons learned as action items are implemented, but DHS has
not updated the plan since it was issued in 2011. Given that internal controls
call for federal agencies to design and implement control activities to enforce
management’s directives, DHS could better prioritize initiatives and identify
successes if it was to regularly update the progress its components and other
relevant stakeholders are making to address the action items in the SVSS
Implementation Plan. This information could be particularly useful to DHS
components that may be operating under more constrained budgets than when the
plan was first issued.
Recommendation for Executive Action: To improve DHS’s
ability to monitor progress, prioritize action items, and identify successes,
we recommend that the Secretary of Homeland Security systematically gather
information from the department’s components and other relevant stakeholders to
regularly update the progress they are making in addressing action items in the
SVSS Implementation Plan.
