SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2010’’. 
(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. Application of Federal Advisory Committee Act to Trade Advisory Com-
mittees. 
Sec. 7. Definitions. 
Sec. 8. 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 (e) and (f), 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) MINIMIZING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Section 
9 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
is further amended by inserting after subsection (b) (as 
added by subsection (a)) the following: 
‘‘(c) PUBLIC NOMINATIONS OF COMMITTEE MEM-
BERS.—Prior to appointing members to an advisory com-
mittee, the head of an agency shall give interested persons 
an opportunity to suggest potential committee members. 
The agency shall include a request for comments in the 
Federal Register notice required under subsection (a) and 
provide a mechanism for interested persons to comment 
through the official website of the agency. The agency 
shall consider any comments submitted under this sub-
section in selecting the members of an advisory committee. 
‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS.— 
‘‘(1) An individual appointed to an advisory 
committee who is not a full-time or permanent part- 
time officer or employee of the Federal Government 
shall be designated as— 
‘‘(A) a special government employee, if the 
individual is providing advice based on the indi-
vidual’s expertise or experience; or 
‘‘(B) a representative, if the individual is 
representing the views of an entity or entities 
outside of the Federal Government.
‘‘(2) An agency may not designate committee 
members as representatives to avoid subjecting them 
to Federal ethics rules and requirements. 
‘‘(3) The designated agency ethics official for 
each agency shall review the members of each advi-
sory committee that reports to the agency to deter-
mine whether each member’s designation is appro-
priate, and to redesignate members if appropriate. 
The designated agency ethics official shall certify to 
the head of the agency that such review has been 
made— 
‘‘(A) following the initial appointment of 
members; and 
‘‘(B) at the time a committee’s charter is 
renewed, or, in the case of a committee with an 
indefinite charter, every 2 years. 
‘‘(4) The head of each agency shall inform each 
individual appointed to an advisory committee that 
reports to the agency whether the individual is ap-
pointed as a special government employee or as a 
representative. The agency head shall provide each 
committee member with an explanation of the dif-
ferences between special government employees and 
representatives and a summary of applicable ethics 
requirements. The agency head, acting through the
designated agency ethics official, shall obtain signed 
and dated written confirmation from each committee 
member that the member received and reviewed the 
information required by this paragraph. 
‘‘(5) The Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics shall provide guidance to agencies on what to 
include in the summary of ethics requirements re-
quired by paragraph (4). 
‘‘(6) The head of each agency shall, to the ex-
tent practicable, develop and implement strategies to 
minimize the need for written determinations under 
section 208(b)(1) of title 18, United States Code. 
Strategies may include such efforts as improving 
outreach efforts to potential committee members and 
seeking public input on potential committee mem-
bers.’’. 
(c) REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING FACA.—Section 
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 regulations as nec-
essary 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 
regularly attends and fully participates in committee meet-
ings as if the individual were a member, even if the indi-
vidual does not have the right to vote or veto the advice 
or recommendations of the advisory committee.’’. 
(b) SUBCOMMITTEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad-
visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by 
striking subsection (a) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—The provisions of this Act or of 
any rule, order, or regulation promulgated under this Act 
shall apply to each advisory committee, including any sub-
committee or subgroup thereof, except to the extent that 
any Act of Congress establishing any such advisory com-
mittee specifically provides otherwise. Any subcommittee 
or subgroup that reports to a parent committee estab-
lished under section 9(a) is not required to comply with 
section 9(f). In this subsection, the term ‘subgroup’ in-
cludes any working group, task force, or other entity 
formed for the purpose of assisting the committee or any 
subcommittee of the committee in its work.’’. 
(c) COMMITTEES CREATED UNDER CONTRACT.— 
Section 3(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.) is amended in the matter following subpara-
graph (C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An advi-
sory committee is considered to be established by an agen-
cy, agencies, or the President if it is formed, created, or 
organized under contract, other transactional authority, 
cooperative agreement, grant, or otherwise at the request 
or direction of an agency, agencies, or the President.’’. 
(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEES CONTAINING SPECIAL 
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad-
visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) SPECIAL
GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES.—Com-
mittee members appointed as special government employ-
ees shall not be considered full-time or permanent part- 
time officers or employees of the Federal Government for 
purposes of determining the applicability of this Act under 
section 3(2).’’.