IB 

Union Calendar No. 292 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2347 

[Report No. 114–386, Part I] 

To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase the transparency 

of Federal advisory committees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2015 

Mr. CLAY (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. COOPER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

JANUARY 5, 2016 

Reported from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

JANUARY 5, 2016 

The Committee on Ways and Means discharged; committed to the Committee 

of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase 

the transparency of Federal advisory committees, and 

for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2015’’. 

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

7 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. Managing Federal advisory committees. 

Sec. 6. Comptroller General review and reports. 

Sec. 7. Application of Federal Advisory Committee Act to Trade Advisory Committees. 

Sec. 8. Definitions. 

Sec. 9. Technical and conforming amendments. 

Sec. 10. Effective date. 

8 SEC. 2. ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND EXPERTISE. 

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

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

11 is amended— 

12 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘MEM13 BERSHIP;’’ after ‘‘ADVISORY COMMITTEES;’’; 

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

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

16 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(b) APPOINTMENTS MADE WITHOUT REGARD TO

19 POLITICAL AFFILIATION OR ACTIVITY.—All appointments 

20 to advisory committees shall be made without regard to 


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1 political affiliation or political activity, unless required by 

2 Federal statute.’’. 

3 (b) MINIMIZING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Section 

4 9 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), 

5 as amended by subsection (a) of this section, is further 

6 amended by inserting after subsection (b) (as added by 

7 such subsection (a)) the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC NOMINATIONS OF COMMITTEE MEM9 BERS.—Prior to appointing members to an advisory com10 mittee, the head of an agency shall give interested persons 

11 an opportunity to suggest potential committee members. 

12 The agency shall include a request for comments in the 

13 Federal Register notice required under subsection (a) and 

14 provide a mechanism for interested persons to comment 

15 through the official website of the agency. The agency 

16 shall consider any comments submitted under this sub17 section in selecting the members of an advisory committee. 

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

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

20 committee who is not a full-time or permanent part21 time officer or employee of the Federal Government 

22 shall be designated as— 

23 ‘‘(A) a special Government employee, if the 

24 individual is providing advice based on the indi25 vidual’s expertise or experience; or 


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

2 representing the views of an entity or entities 

3 outside of the Federal Government. 

4 ‘‘(2) An agency may not designate committee 

5 members as representatives to avoid subjecting them 

6 to Federal ethics rules and requirements. 

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

8 each agency shall review the members of each advi9 sory committee that reports to the agency to deter10 mine whether each member’s designation is appro11 priate, and to redesignate members if appropriate. 

12 The designated agency ethics official shall certify to 

13 the head of the agency that such review has been 

14 made— 

15 ‘‘(A) following the initial appointment of 

16 members; and 

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

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

19 indefinite charter, every 2 years. 

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

21 individual appointed to an advisory committee that 

22 reports to the agency whether the individual is ap23 pointed as a special Government employee or as a 

24 representative. The agency head shall provide each 

25 committee member with an explanation of the difVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Jan 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2347.RH H2347

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1 ferences between special Government employees and 

2 representatives and a summary of applicable ethics 

3 requirements. The agency head, acting through the 

4 designated agency ethics official, shall obtain signed 

5 and dated written confirmation from each committee 

6 member that the member received and reviewed the 

7 information required by this paragraph. 

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

9 Ethics shall provide guidance to agencies on what to 

10 include in the summary of ethics requirements re11 quired by paragraph (4). 

12 ‘‘(6) The head of each agency shall, to the ex13 tent practicable, develop and implement strategies to 

14 minimize the need for written determinations under 

15 section 208(b)(3) of title 18, United States Code. 

16 Strategies may include such efforts as improving 

17 outreach efforts to potential committee members and 

18 seeking public input on potential committee mem19 bers.’’. 

20 (c) REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING FACA.—Section 

21 7(c) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

22 App.) is amended by inserting ‘‘promulgate regulations 

23 and’’ after ‘‘The Administrator shall’’. 


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1 (d) ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND REC2 OMMENDATIONS.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act 

3 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

4 (1) in section 8— 

5 (A) in the section heading, by inserting 

6 ‘‘INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND RECOMMENDA7 TIONS;’’ after ‘‘RESPONSIBILITIES OF AGENCY

8 HEADS;’’; 

9 (B) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub10 section (c); and 

11 (C) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(b) The head of each agency shall ensure that the 

14 agency does not interfere with the free and independent 

15 participation, expression of views, and deliberation by 

16 committee members. Each advisory committee shall in17 clude a statement describing the process used by the advi18 sory committee in formulating the advice and rec19 ommendations when they are transmitted to the agency.’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) in section 10— 

22 (A) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; 

23 CHAIR’’ after ‘‘ATTENDANCE’’; and 

24 (B) by inserting after subsection (f) the 

25 following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(g) The Chair shall not be an employee of the agen2 cy to which the advisory committee reports, unless— 

3 ‘‘(1) a statute specifically authorizes selection of 

4 such an employee as the Chair; or 

5 ‘‘(2) the head of the agency directs an employee 

6 to serve as the Chair.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. PREVENTING EFFORTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE FED8 ERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AND PUB9 LIC DISCLOSURE. 

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

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

12 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

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

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

15 officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be 

16 regarded as a member of a committee if the individual 

17 regularly attends and participates in committee meetings 

18 as if the individual were a member, even if the individual 

19 does not have the right to vote or veto the advice or rec20 ommendations of the advisory committee.’’. 

21 (b) SUBCOMMITTEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad22 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as amended by 

23 subsection (a) of this section, is further amended by strik24 ing subsection (a) and inserting the following: 


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

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

3 shall apply to each advisory committee, including any sub4 committee or subgroup thereof, except to the extent that 

5 any Act of Congress establishing any such advisory com6 mittee specifically provides otherwise. Any subcommittee 

7 or subgroup that reports to a parent committee estab8 lished under section 9(a) is not required to comply with 

9 section 9(f).’’. 

10 (c) COMMITTEES CREATED UNDER CONTRACT.— 

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

12 U.S.C. App.) is amended in the matter following subpara13 graph (C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An advi14 sory committee is considered to be established by an agen15 cy, agencies, or the President if it is formed, created, or 

16 organized under contract, other transactional authority, 

17 cooperative agreement, grant, or otherwise at the request 

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

19 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEES CONTAINING SPECIAL

20 GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad21 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as amended by 

22 subsections (a) and (b) of this section, is further amended 

23 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Com25 mittee members appointed as special Government employVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Jan 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2347.RH H2347

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1 ees shall not be considered full-time or permanent part2 time officers or employees of the Federal Government for 

3 purposes of determining the applicability of this Act under 

4 section 3(2).’’. 

5 SEC. 4. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY OF ADVISORY COM6 MITTEES. 

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

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

9 amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 11. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION. 

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

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

13 committee reports shall make publicly available in accord14 ance with subsection (b) the following information: 

15 ‘‘(1) The charter of the advisory committee. 

16 ‘‘(2) A description of the process used to estab17 lish and appoint the members of the advisory com18 mittee, including the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) The process for identifying prospec20 tive members. 

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

22 balance of viewpoints or expertise. 

23 ‘‘(C) The reason each member was ap24 pointed to the committee. 


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1 ‘‘(D) A justification of the need for rep2 resentative members, if any. 

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

4 for each member, the following: 

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

6 that nominated the member. 

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

8 a special Government employee or a representa9 tive. 

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

11 individuals or entity whose viewpoint the mem12 ber represents. 

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

14 Government employees for whom written certifi15 cations were made under section 208(b) of title 18, 

16 United States Code, a copy of each such certifi17 cation, a summary description of the conflict necessi18 tating the certification, and the reason for granting 

19 the certification. 

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

21 or any recusal known to the agency that occurs dur22 ing the course of a meeting or other work of the 

23 committee. 

24 ‘‘(6) A summary of the process used by the ad25 visory committee for making decisions. 


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1 ‘‘(7) Detailed minutes of all meetings of the 

2 committee and a description of committee efforts to 

3 make meetings accessible to the public using online 

4 technologies (such as video recordings) or other 

5 techniques (such as audio recordings). 

6 ‘‘(8) Any written determination by the Presi7 dent or the head of the agency to which the advisory 

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

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

10 reasons for such determination. 

11 ‘‘(9) Notices of future meetings of the com12 mittee. 

13 ‘‘(10) Any additional information considered 

14 relevant by the head of the agency to which the advi15 sory committee reports. 

16 ‘‘(b) MANNER OF DISCLOSURE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), the head of an agency shall make the in19 formation required to be disclosed under this section 

20 available electronically on the official public website 

21 of the agency and to the Administrator at least 15 

22 calendar days before each meeting of an advisory 

23 committee. If the head of the agency determines that 

24 such timing is not practicable for any required infor25 mation, such head shall make the information availVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Jan 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2347.RH H2347

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1 able as soon as practicable but no later than 48 

2 hours before the next meeting of the committee. An 

3 agency may withhold from disclosure any informa4 tion that would be exempt from disclosure under sec5 tion 552 of title 5, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(2) WEBSITE AVAILABILITY.—The head of an 

7 agency shall make available electronically, on the of8 ficial public website of the agency, detailed minutes 

9 and, to the extent available, a transcript or audio or 

10 video recording of each advisory committee meeting 

11 not later than 30 calendar days after such meeting. 

12 ‘‘(3) GRANT REVIEWS.—In the case of grant re13 views, disclosure of information required by sub14 section (a)(3) may be provided in the aggregate 

15 rather than by individual grant. 

16 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY ADMINIS17 TRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES.—The Administrator of 

18 General Services shall provide, on the official public 

19 website of the General Services Administration, electronic 

20 access to the information made available by each agency 

21 under this section. 

22 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF MEETING MATERIALS.—Ex23 cept where prohibited by contractual agreements entered 

24 into prior to the effective date of this Act, agencies and 

25 advisory committees shall make available to any person, 


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1 at actual cost of duplication, copies of advisory committee 

2 meeting materials.’’. 

3 (b) CHARTER FILING.—Subsection (f) of section 9 of 

4 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as 

5 redesignated by section 2(a) of this Act, is amended to 

6 read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(f) No advisory committee shall meet or take any 

8 action until an advisory committee charter has been filed 

9 with the Administrator, the head of the agency to whom 

10 any advisory committee reports, and the standing commit11 tees of the Senate and of the House of Representatives 

12 having legislative jurisdiction of such agency. Such charter 

13 shall contain the following information in the following 

14 order: 

15 ‘‘(1) The committee’s official designation. 

16 ‘‘(2) The authority under which the committee 

17 is established. 

18 ‘‘(3) The committee’s objectives and the scope 

19 of its activity. 

20 ‘‘(4) A description of the duties for which the 

21 committee is responsible, and, if such duties are not 

22 solely advisory, a specification of the authority for 

23 such functions. 

24 ‘‘(5) The agency or official to whom the com25 mittee reports. 


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1 ‘‘(6) The agency responsible for providing the 

2 necessary support for the committee. 

3 ‘‘(7) The responsibilities of the officer or em4 ployee of the Federal Government designated under 

5 section 10(e). 

6 ‘‘(8) The estimated number and frequency of 

7 committee meetings. 

8 ‘‘(9) The period of time necessary for the com9 mittee to carry out its purposes. 

10 ‘‘(10) The committee’s termination date, if less 

11 than two years from the date of the committee’s es12 tablishment. 

13 ‘‘(11) The estimated number of members and a 

14 description of the expertise needed to carry out the 

15 objectives of the committee. 

16 ‘‘(12) A description of whether the committee 

17 will be composed of special Government employees, 

18 representatives, or members from both categories. 

19 ‘‘(13) Whether the agency intends to create 

20 subcommittees and if so, the agency official author21 ized to exercise such authority. 

22 ‘‘(14) The estimated annual operating costs in 

23 dollars and full-time equivalent positions for such 

24 committee. 


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1 ‘‘(15) The recordkeeping requirements of the 

2 committee. 

3 ‘‘(16) The date the charter is filed. 

4 A copy of any such charter shall also be furnished to the 

5 Library of Congress.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. MANAGING FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES. 

7 (a) COMMITTEE MANAGEMENT OFFICERS.—Sub8 section (c) of section 8 of the Federal Advisory Committee 

9 Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as redesignated by section 2(d) of 

10 this Act, is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(c) The head of each agency that has an advisory 

12 committee shall designate an Advisory Committee Man13 agement Officer who shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) be a senior official who is— 

15 ‘‘(A) an expert in implementing the re16 quirements of this Act and regulations promul17 gated pursuant to this Act; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the primary point of contact for the 

19 General Services Administration; 

20 ‘‘(2) be responsible for the establishment, man21 agement, and supervision of the advisory committees 

22 of the agency, including establishing procedures, per23 formance measures, and outcomes for such commit24 tees; 


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1 ‘‘(3) assemble and maintain the reports, 

2 records, and other papers (including advisory com3 mittee meeting materials) of any such committee 

4 during its existence; 

5 ‘‘(4) ensure any such committee and cor6 responding agency staff adhere to the provisions of 

7 this Act and any regulations promulgated pursuant 

8 to this Act; 

9 ‘‘(5) maintain records on each employee of any 

10 such committee and completion of training required 

11 for any such employee; 

12 ‘‘(6) be responsible for providing the informa13 tion required in section 7(b) of this Act to the Ad14 ministrator; and 

15 ‘‘(7) carry out, on behalf of that agency, the 

16 provisions of section 552 of title 5, United States 

17 Code, with respect to the reports, records, and other 

18 papers described in paragraph (3).’’. 

19 SEC. 6. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND REPORTS. 

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

21 States shall review compliance by agencies with the Fed22 eral Advisory Committee Act, as amended by this Act, in23 cluding whether agencies are appropriately appointing ad24 visory committee members as either special Government 

25 employees or representatives. 


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

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

3 on the results of the review, as follows: 

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

5 than one year after the date of promulgation of reg6 ulations under section 7(c) of the Federal Advisory 

7 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as amended by sec8 tion 2(c). 

9 (2) The second report shall be submitted not 

10 later than five years after such date of promulgation 

11 of regulations. 

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

13 subsection are the Committee on Oversight and Govern14 ment Reform of the House of Representatives and the 

15 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af16 fairs of the Senate. 

17 SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

18 ACT TO TRADE ADVISORY COMMITTEES. 

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

20 U.S.C. 2155(f)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘sub21 sections (a) and (b) of sections 10 and 11 of the Federal 

22 Advisory Committee Act’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) 

23 and (b) of section 10 and subsections (a)(7), (a)(8), 

24 (a)(9), (b)(2), and (d) of section 11 of the Federal Advi25 sory Committee Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 3 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

3 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new paragraph: 

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

6 has the meaning given that term in section 202(a) 

7 of title 18, United States Code.’’. 

8 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

9 Section 7(d)(1) of the Federal Advisory Committee 

10 Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

11 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘the rate 

12 specified for GS–18 of the General Schedule under 

13 section 5332’’ and inserting ‘‘the rate for level IV of 

14 the Executive Schedule under section 5315’’; and 

15 (2) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ‘‘handi16 capped individuals (within the meaning of section 

17 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

18 794))’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals with disabilities 

19 (as defined in section 7(20) of the Rehabilitation Act 

20 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705(20)))’’. 

21 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

23 the enactment of this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 292 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2347 

[Report No. 114–386, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to 

committees, and for other purposes. increase the transparency of Federal advisory 

JANUARY 5, 2016 

Reported from the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform 

JANUARY 5, 2016 

The Committee on Ways and Means discharged; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 


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