The Army and Chemical Weapons Destruction: Implementation in a Changing Context
In 1985, Congress directed the Army to destroy the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons. The estimate was that this task could be accomplished by 1994 at a cost of $1.7 billion. By 1998, only a portion of the stockpile has been destroyed, the deadline extended to 2007 and the estimated cost had risen to approximately $16 billion. This paper discusses the factors underlying cost escalation and missed deadlines. It examines the diffusion of control over the implementation process surrounding the chemical weapons demilitarization (Chem Demil) program in the United States. Focusing on the role of the Army and its difficulties in adjusting strategies in the face of political change from the Cold War to the post-Cold War setting, it analyzes the course of implementation through three converging “streams of political activity.” What differentiates the federal, intergovernmental, and international stream are the nature an number of actors, and the type of pressures with which the Army must deal.
Public health, law, and local control: destruction of the US chemical weapons stockpile.
Destruction of US chemical weapons has begun at one of the 8 sites in the continental United States, was completed on Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean, and is scheduled to begin in at least 3 other locations during the upcoming year. About 25% of the stockpile and 38% of the munitions had been destroyed as of December 31, 2002. However, the program has become controversial with regard to choice of technology, emergency management, and cost. This controversy is in large part due to efforts by some state and local governments and activist groups to play a more central role in a decision making process that was once fully controlled by the US Army.
The Department of Defense
Sections 7U) and 8(a) of the Small Business Act (the Act) (15 U.S.C. §§ 636 (j) and 637(a)) authorize the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a business development program, which is known as the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Program. The 8(a) BD Program promotes the development of small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals so that such concerns can compete in the mainstream ofthe American economy. (15 U.S.C. § 63l(f)(2)). Small business development is accomplished by providing various forms of management, technical, financial and procurement assistance. Additionally, pursuant to section 8(a) of the Act, SBA is authorized to enter into all types of contracts with other Federal agencies and to subcontract the performance ofthese contracts to qualified Participants in the 8(a) BD Program.