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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2008’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
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. Definitions. 
Sec. 7. Effective date. 
SEC. 2. ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE AND EXPERTISE. 
(a) BAR ON POLITICAL LITMUS TESTS.—Section 9 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
is amended— 
(1) in the section heading by inserting ‘‘MEM-
BERSHIP;’’ after ‘‘ADVISORY COMMITTEES;’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 
subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(b) APPOINTMENTS MADE WITHOUT REGARD TO 
POLITICAL AFFILIATION OR ACTIVITY.—All appointments 
to advisory committees shall be made without regard to 
political affiliation or political activity, unless required by 
Federal statute.’’. 
(b) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE.—Section 
9 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
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is further amended by inserting after subsection (b) (as 
added by subsection (a)) the following: 
‘‘(c) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE.— 
‘‘(1)(A) The head of each agency shall ensure 
that no individual appointed to serve on an advisory 
committee that reports to the agency has a conflict 
of interest that is relevant to the functions to be per-
formed by the advisory committee, unless the head 
of the agency determines that the need for the indi-
vidual’s services outweighs the potential impacts of 
the conflict of interest. 
‘‘(B) If the head of the agency makes such a 
determination with respect to an individual, nothing 
in this subsection is intended to preclude the head 
of the agency from requiring the recusal of the indi-
vidual from particular aspects of the committee’s 
work. 
‘‘(C) In the case of an individual appointed as 
a representative, the fact that an individual is asso-
ciated with the entity whose views are being rep-
resented by the individual shall not itself be consid-
ered a conflict of interest by the agency. 
‘‘(2) The head of each agency shall require— 
‘‘(A) that each individual the agency ap-
points or intends to appoint to serve on an ad-
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visory committee as a representative inform the 
agency official responsible for appointing the in-
dividual in writing of any actual or potential 
conflict of interest— 
‘‘(i) that exists before appointment or 
that arises while the individual is serving 
on the Committee; and 
‘‘(ii) that is relevant to the functions 
to be performed; and 
‘‘(B) that, for an individual appointed to 
serve on an advisory committee, the conflict is 
publicly disclosed as described in section 11. 
‘‘(3) Nothing in this subsection is intended to 
alter any requirement or obligation for a special 
Government employee under the Ethics in Govern-
ment Act (5 U.S.C. App.) or other applicable ethics 
law, including any requirement to file a financial dis-
closure report. The head of each agency shall require 
that each individual the agency appoints as a special 
Government employee inform the agency in writing 
of any conflict that exists before appointment or 
that arises while the individual is serving on the 
committee to the extent any financial disclosure re-
quired by the Ethics in Government Act (5 U.S.C. 
app.) or other applicable law would not uncover the 
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conflict of interest as such term is defined in regula-
tions promulgated by the Office of Government Eth-
ics to carry out this subsection. 
‘‘(4) The head of each agency shall ensure that 
each report of an advisory committee that reports to 
the agency is the result of the advisory committee’s 
judgment, independent from the agency. Each advi-
sory committee shall include in each report of the 
committee a statement describing the process used 
by the advisory committee in formulating the rec-
ommendations or conclusions contained in the re-
port.’’. 
(c) REGULATIONS.— 
(1) REGULATIONS RELATING TO CONFLICTS OF 
INTEREST.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of-
fice of Government Ethics, in consultation with the 
Administrator of General Services, shall promul-
gate— 
(A) regulations defining the term ‘‘conflict 
of interest’’; 
(B) regulations identifying the method by 
which individuals must disclose conflicts and 
the period of time for which a representative or 
special Government employee, or a candidate 
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for appointment as a representative or special 
Government employee, shall look back in time 
to determine whether an interest is considered 
a conflict for the purpose of the notification re-
quirement in subsection (c) of section 9 of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act, as added by 
this section; and 
(C) such other regulations as the Director 
finds necessary to carry out and ensure the en-
forcement of such subsection (c). 
(2) REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING FACA.—Sec-
tion 7(c) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended by inserting after ‘‘(c)’’ the 
following: ‘‘The Administrator shall promulgate reg-
ulations as necessary to implement this Act.’’. 
SEC. 3. PREVENTING EFFORTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE FED-
ERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AND PUB-
LIC DISCLOSURE. 
(a) DE FACTO MEMBERS.—Section 4 of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL AS MEMBER.—An 
individual who is not a full-time or permanent part-time 
officer or employee of the Federal Government shall be 
regarded as a member of a committee if the individual 
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