111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1320 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase 

the transparency and accountability of Federal advisory 

committees, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2010’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Ensuring independent advice and expertise. 

Sec. 3. Preventing efforts to circumvent the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

and public disclosure. 

Sec. 4. Increasing transparency of advisory committees. 

Sec. 5. Comptroller General review and reports. 

Sec. 6. Application of Federal Advisory Committee Act to Trade Advisory Committees. 

Sec. 7. Definitions. 

Sec. 8. Effective date. 

6 SEC. 2. ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND EXPERTISE. 

7 (a) BAR ON POLITICAL LITMUS TESTS.—Section 9 

8 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in the section heading by inserting ‘‘MEM11 BERSHIP;’’ after ‘‘ADVISORY COMMITTEES;’’; 

12 (2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 

13 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

14 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENTS MADE WITHOUT REGARD TO

17 POLITICAL AFFILIATION OR ACTIVITY.—All appointments 

18 to advisory committees shall be made without regard to 

19 political affiliation or political activity, unless required by 

20 Federal statute.’’. 
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1 (b) MINIMIZING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Section 

2 9 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

3 is further amended by inserting after subsection (b) (as 

4 added by subsection (a)) the following: 

5 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC NOMINATIONS OF COMMITTEE MEM6 BERS.—Prior to appointing members to an advisory com7 mittee, the head of an agency shall give interested persons 

8 an opportunity to suggest potential committee members. 

9 The agency shall include a request for comments in the 

10 Federal Register notice required under subsection (a) and 

11 provide a mechanism for interested persons to comment 

12 through the official website of the agency. The agency 

13 shall consider any comments submitted under this sub14 section in selecting the members of an advisory committee. 

15 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) An individual appointed to an advisory 

17 committee who is not a full-time or permanent part18 time officer or employee of the Federal Government 

19 shall be designated as— 

20 ‘‘(A) a special government employee, if the 

21 individual is providing advice based on the indi22 vidual’s expertise or experience; or 

23 ‘‘(B) a representative, if the individual is 

24 representing the views of an entity or entities 

25 outside of the Federal Government. 
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1 ‘‘(2) An agency may not designate committee 

2 members as representatives to avoid subjecting them 

3 to Federal ethics rules and requirements. 

4 ‘‘(3) The designated agency ethics official for 

5 each agency shall review the members of each advi6 sory committee that reports to the agency to deter7 mine whether each member’s designation is appro8 priate, and to redesignate members if appropriate. 

9 The designated agency ethics official shall certify to 

10 the head of the agency that such review has been 

11 made— 

12 ‘‘(A) following the initial appointment of 

13 members; and 

14 ‘‘(B) at the time a committee’s charter is 

15 renewed, or, in the case of a committee with an 

16 indefinite charter, every 2 years. 

17 ‘‘(4) The head of each agency shall inform each 

18 individual appointed to an advisory committee that 

19 reports to the agency whether the individual is ap20 pointed as a special government employee or as a 

21 representative. The agency head shall provide each 

22 committee member with an explanation of the dif23 ferences between special government employees and 

24 representatives and a summary of applicable ethics 

25 requirements. The agency head, acting through the 
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1 designated agency ethics official, shall obtain signed 

2 and dated written confirmation from each committee 

3 member that the member received and reviewed the 

4 information required by this paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Office of Government 

6 Ethics shall provide guidance to agencies on what to 

7 include in the summary of ethics requirements re8 quired by paragraph (4). 

9 ‘‘(6) The head of each agency shall, to the ex10 tent practicable, develop and implement strategies to 

11 minimize the need for written determinations under 

12 section 208(b)(1) of title 18, United States Code. 

13 Strategies may include such efforts as improving 

14 outreach efforts to potential committee members and 

15 seeking public input on potential committee mem16 bers.’’. 

17 (c) REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING FACA.—Section 

18 7(c) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

19 App.) is amended by inserting after ‘‘(c)’’ the following: 

20 ‘‘The Administrator shall promulgate regulations as nec21 essary to implement this Act.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. PREVENTING EFFORTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE FED2 ERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AND PUB3 LIC DISCLOSURE. 

4 (a) DE FACTO MEMBERS.—Section 4 of the Federal 

5 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL AS MEMBER.—An 

8 individual who is not a full-time or permanent part-time 

9 officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be 

10 regarded as a member of a committee if the individual 

11 regularly attends and fully participates in committee meet12 ings as if the individual were a member, even if the indi13 vidual does not have the right to vote or veto the advice 

14 or recommendations of the advisory committee.’’. 

15 (b) SUBCOMMITTEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad16 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 

17 striking subsection (a) and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—The provisions of this Act or of 

19 any rule, order, or regulation promulgated under this Act 

20 shall apply to each advisory committee, including any sub21 committee or subgroup thereof, except to the extent that 

22 any Act of Congress establishing any such advisory com23 mittee specifically provides otherwise. Any subcommittee 

24 or subgroup that reports to a parent committee estab25 lished under section 9(a) is not required to comply with 

26 section 9(f). In this subsection, the term ‘subgroup’ in-
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1 cludes any working group, task force, or other entity 

2 formed for the purpose of assisting the committee or any 

3 subcommittee of the committee in its work.’’. 

4 (c) COMMITTEES CREATED UNDER CONTRACT.— 

5 Section 3(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

6 U.S.C. App.) is amended in the matter following subpara7 graph (C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An advi8 sory committee is considered to be established by an agen9 cy, agencies, or the President if it is formed, created, or 

10 organized under contract, other transactional authority, 

11 cooperative agreement, grant, or otherwise at the request 

12 or direction of an agency, agencies, or the President.’’. 

13 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEES CONTAINING SPECIAL

14 GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad15 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is further amended 

16 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Com18 mittee members appointed as special government employ19 ees shall not be considered full-time or permanent part20 time officers or employees of the Federal Government for 

21 purposes of determining the applicability of this Act under 

22 section 3(2).’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY OF ADVISORY COM2 MITTEES. 

3 (a) INFORMATION REQUIREMENT.—Section 11 of the 

4 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking the section designation and 

7 heading and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 11. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.’’; 

9 (2) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub10 section (d) and in that subsection— 

11 (A) by inserting the following subsection 

12 heading: ‘‘AVAILABILITY OF PAPER COPIES OF

13 TRANSCRIPTS.—’’; and 

14 (B) by inserting after ‘‘duplication,’’ the 

15 following: ‘‘paper’’; 

16 (3) by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e) AGEN17 CY PROCEEDING DEFINED.—’’; and 

18 (4) by inserting before subsection (d), as redes19 ignated by paragraph (2), the following new sub20 sections: 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each advisory 

22 committee, the head of the agency to which the advisory 

23 committee reports shall make publicly available in accord24 ance with subsection (b) the following information: 

25 ‘‘(1) The charter of the advisory committee. 
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1 ‘‘(2) A description of the process used to estab2 lish and appoint the members of the advisory com3 mittee, including the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) The process for identifying prospec5 tive members. 

6 ‘‘(B) The process of selecting members for 

7 balance of viewpoints or expertise. 

8 ‘‘(C) The reason each member was ap9 pointed to the committee. 

10 ‘‘(D) A justification of the need for rep11 resentative members, if any. 

12 ‘‘(3) A list of all current members, including, 

13 for each member, the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The name of any person or entity 

15 that nominated the member. 

16 ‘‘(B) Whether the member is designated as 

17 a special government employee or a representa18 tive. 

19 ‘‘(C) In the case of a representative, the 

20 individuals or entity whose viewpoint the mem21 ber represents. 

22 ‘‘(4) A list of all members designated as special 

23 government employees for whom written certifi24 cations were made under section 208(b) of title 18, 

25 United States Code, a copy of each such certifi-
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1 cation, a summary description of the conflict necessi2 tating the certification, and the reason for granting 

3 the certification. 

4 ‘‘(5) Any recusal agreement made by a member 

5 or any recusal known to the agency that occurs dur6 ing the course of a meeting or other work of the 

7 committee. 

8 ‘‘(6) A summary of the process used by the ad9 visory committee for making decisions. 

10 ‘‘(7) Transcripts or audio or video recordings of 

11 all meetings of the committee. 

12 ‘‘(8) Any written determination by the Presi13 dent or the head of the agency to which the advisory 

14 committee reports, pursuant to section 10(d), to 

15 close a meeting or any portion of a meeting and the 

16 reasons for such determination. 

17 ‘‘(9) Notices of future meetings of the com18 mittee. 

19 ‘‘(10) Any additional information considered 

20 relevant by the head of the agency to which the advi21 sory committee reports. 

22 ‘‘(b) MANNER OF DISCLOSURE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 

24 head of an agency shall make the information re25 quired to be disclosed under this section available 
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1 electronically on the official public internet site of 

2 the agency at least 15 calendar days before each 

3 meeting of an advisory committee. If the head of the 

4 agency determines that such timing is not prac5 ticable for any required information, he shall make 

6 the information available as soon as practicable but 

7 no later than 48 hours before the next meeting of 

8 the committee. An agency may withhold from disclo9 sure any information that would be exempt from dis10 closure under section 552 of title 5, United States 

11 Code. 

12 ‘‘(2) The head of an agency shall make avail13 able electronically, on the official public internet site 

14 of the agency, a transcript or audio or video record15 ing of each advisory committee meeting as required 

16 by subsection (a)(6) not later than 30 calendar days 

17 after the meeting. 

18 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY ADMINIS19 TRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES.—The Administrator of 

20 General Services shall provide, on the official public inter21 net site of the General Services Administration, electronic 

22 access to the information made available by each agency 

23 under this section.’’. 
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1 (b) CHARTER FILING.—Section 9(f) of the Federal 

2 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as redesignated 

3 by section 2, is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘with (1) the Administrator,’’ 

5 and all that follows through ‘‘, or’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘(1) with the Administrator and’’; 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara8 graph (I); 

9 (3) by striking the period and inserting a semi10 colon at the end of subparagraph (J); and 

11 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub12 paragraphs: 

13 ‘‘(K) the authority under which the committee 

14 is established; 

15 ‘‘(L) the estimated number of members and a 

16 description of the expertise needed to carry out the 

17 objectives of the committee; 

18 ‘‘(M) a description of whether the committee 

19 will be composed of special government employees, 

20 representatives, or members from both categories; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(N) whether the committee has the authority 

23 to create subcommittees and if so, the agency official 

24 authorized to exercise such authority.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND REPORTS. 

2 (a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United 

3 States shall review compliance by agencies with the Fed4 eral Advisory Committee Act, as amended by this Act, in5 cluding whether agencies are appropriately appointing ad6 visory committee members as either special government 

7 employees or representatives. 

8 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 

9 to the committees described in subsection (c) two reports 

10 on the results of the review, as follows: 

11 (1) The first report shall be submitted not later 

12 than one year after the date of promulgation of reg13 ulations under section 2. 

14 (2) The second report shall be submitted not 

15 later than five years after such date of promulgation 

16 of regulations. 

17 (c) COMMITTEES.—The committees described in this 

18 subsection are the Committee on Oversight and Govern19 ment Reform of the House of Representatives and the 

20 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af21 fairs of the Senate. 

22 SEC. 6. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

23 ACT TO TRADE ADVISORY COMMITTEES. 

24 Section 135(f)(2)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

25 U.S.C. 2155) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (a) and 

26 (b) of sections 10 and 11 of the Federal Advisory Com-
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1 mittee Act’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) of sec2 tion 10 and subsections (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(9), (d), and (e) 

3 of section 11 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act’’. 

4 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

5 Section 3 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

6 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(5) The term ‘special Government employee’ 

9 has the same meaning as in section 202(a) of title 

10 18, United States Code.’’. 

11 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

12 This Act shall take effect 30 days after the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 26, 2010. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1320 

AN ACT 

To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to 

poses. Federal advisory committees, and for other purincrease the transparency and accountability of