SEC. 4. INCREASING TRANSPARENCY OF ADVISORY COM-
MITTEES. 
(a) INFORMATION REQUIREMENT.—Section 11 of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking the section designation and 
heading and inserting the following: 
‘‘SEC. 11. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsection (a) as sub-
section (d) and in that subsection— 
(A) by inserting the following subsection 
heading: ‘‘AVAILABILITY OF PAPER COPIES OF 
TRANSCRIPTS.—’’; and 
(B) by inserting after ‘‘duplication,’’ the 
following: ‘‘paper’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e) AGEN-
CY PROCEEDING DEFINED.—’’; and 
(4) by inserting before subsection (d), as redes-
ignated by paragraph (2), the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each advisory 
committee, the head of the agency to which the advisory 
committee reports shall make publicly available in accord-
ance with subsection (b) the following information: 
‘‘(1) The charter of the advisory committee.
‘‘(2) A description of the process used to estab-
lish and appoint the members of the advisory com-
mittee, including the following: 
‘‘(A) The process for identifying prospec-
tive members. 
‘‘(B) The process of selecting members for 
balance of viewpoints or expertise. 
‘‘(C) The reason each member was ap-
pointed to the committee. 
‘‘(D) A justification of the need for rep-
resentative members, if any. 
‘‘(3) A list of all current members, including, 
for each member, the following: 
‘‘(A) The name of any person or entity 
that nominated the member. 
‘‘(B) Whether the member is designated as 
a special government employee or a representa-
tive. 
‘‘(C) In the case of a representative, the 
individuals or entity whose viewpoint the mem-
ber represents. 
‘‘(4) A list of all members designated as special 
government employees for whom written certifi-
cations were made under section 208(b) of title 18, 
United States Code, a copy of each such certifi-
cation, a summary description of the conflict necessi-
tating the certification, and the reason for granting 
the certification. 
‘‘(5) Any recusal agreement made by a member 
or any recusal known to the agency that occurs dur-
ing the course of a meeting or other work of the 
committee. 
‘‘(6) A summary of the process used by the ad-
visory committee for making decisions. 
‘‘(7) Transcripts or audio or video recordings of 
all meetings of the committee. 
‘‘(8) Any written determination by the Presi-
dent or the head of the agency to which the advisory 
committee reports, pursuant to section 10(d), to 
close a meeting or any portion of a meeting and the 
reasons for such determination. 
‘‘(9) Notices of future meetings of the com-
mittee. 
‘‘(10) Any additional information considered 
relevant by the head of the agency to which the advi-
sory committee reports. 
‘‘(b) MANNER OF DISCLOSURE.— 
‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
head of an agency shall make the information re-
quired to be disclosed under this section available
electronically on the official public internet site of 
the agency at least 15 calendar days before each 
meeting of an advisory committee. If the head of the 
agency determines that such timing is not prac-
ticable for any required information, he shall make 
the information available as soon as practicable but 
no later than 48 hours before the next meeting of 
the committee. An agency may withhold from disclo-
sure any information that would be exempt from dis-
closure under section 552 of title 5, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(2) The head of an agency shall make avail-
able electronically, on the official public internet site 
of the agency, a transcript or audio or video record-
ing of each advisory committee meeting as required 
by subsection (a)(6) not later than 30 calendar days 
after the meeting. 
‘‘(c) PROVISION
OF INFORMATION
BY ADMINIS-
TRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES.—The Administrator of 
General Services shall provide, on the official public inter-
net site of the General Services Administration, electronic 
access to the information made available by each agency 
under this section.’’.
(b) CHARTER FILING.—Section 9(f) of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as redesignated 
by section 2, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘with (1) the Administrator,’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘, or’’ and inserting 
‘‘(1) with the Administrator and’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (I); 
(3) by striking the period and inserting a semi-
colon at the end of subparagraph (J); and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraphs: 
‘‘(K) the authority under which the committee 
is established; 
‘‘(L) the estimated number of members and a 
description of the expertise needed to carry out the 
objectives of the committee; 
‘‘(M) a description of whether the committee 
will be composed of special government employees, 
representatives, or members from both categories; 
and 
‘‘(N) whether the committee has the authority 
to create subcommittees and if so, the agency official 
authorized to exercise such authority.’’.
mittee Act’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) of sec-
tion 10 and subsections (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(9), (d), and (e) 
of section 11 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act’’. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 3 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) The term ‘special Government employee’ 
has the same meaning as in section 202(a) of title 
18, United States Code.’’. 
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect 30 days after the date of 
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 
increase the transparency and accountability of 
Federal advisory committees, and for other pur-
poses.