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‘‘(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).’’. 
(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.), as amended by 
subsections (a) and (b) of this section, is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) SPECIAL
GOVERNMENT
EMPLOYEES.—Com-
mittee members appointed as special Government employ-
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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).’’. 
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 to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 11. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION. 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(7) Detailed minutes of all meetings of the 
committee and a description of committee efforts to 
make meetings accessible to the public using online 
technologies (such as video recordings) or other 
techniques (such as audio recordings). 
‘‘(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) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the head of an agency shall make the in-
formation required to be disclosed under this section 
available electronically on the official public website 
of the agency and to the Administrator at least 15 
calendar days before each meeting of an advisory 
committee. If the head of the agency determines that 
such timing is not practicable for any required infor-
mation, such head shall make the information avail-
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able as soon as practicable but no later than 48 
hours before the next meeting of the committee. An 
agency may withhold from disclosure any informa-
tion that would be exempt from disclosure under sec-
tion 552 of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(2) WEBSITE AVAILABILITY.—The head of an 
agency shall make available electronically, on the of-
ficial public website of the agency, detailed minutes 
and, to the extent available, a transcript or audio or 
video recording of each advisory committee meeting 
not later than 30 calendar days after such meeting. 
‘‘(3) GRANT REVIEWS.—In the case of grant re-
views, disclosure of information required by sub-
section (a)(3) may be provided in the aggregate 
rather than by individual grant. 
‘‘(c) PROVISION
OF INFORMATION
BY ADMINIS-
TRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES.—The Administrator of 
General Services shall provide, on the official public 
website of the General Services Administration, electronic 
access to the information made available by each agency 
under this section. 
‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF MEETING MATERIALS.—Ex-
cept where prohibited by contractual agreements entered 
into prior to the effective date of this Act, agencies and 
advisory committees shall make available to any person, 
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at actual cost of duplication, copies of advisory committee 
meeting materials.’’. 
(b) CHARTER FILING.—Subsection (f) of section 9 of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as 
redesignated by section 2(a) of this Act, is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(f) No advisory committee shall meet or take any 
action until an advisory committee charter has been filed 
with the Administrator, the head of the agency to whom 
any advisory committee reports, and the standing commit-
tees of the Senate and of the House of Representatives 
having legislative jurisdiction of such agency. Such charter 
shall contain the following information in the following 
order: 
‘‘(1) The committee’s official designation. 
‘‘(2) The authority under which the committee 
is established. 
‘‘(3) The committee’s objectives and the scope 
of its activity. 
‘‘(4) A description of the duties for which the 
committee is responsible, and, if such duties are not 
solely advisory, a specification of the authority for 
such functions. 
‘‘(5) The agency or official to whom the com-
mittee reports. 
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‘‘(15) The recordkeeping requirements of the 
committee. 
‘‘(16) The date the charter is filed. 
A copy of any such charter shall also be furnished to the 
Library of Congress.’’. 
SEC. 5. MANAGING FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES. 
(a) COMMITTEE
MANAGEMENT
OFFICERS.—Sub-
section (c) of section 8 of the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as redesignated by section 2(d) of 
this Act, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) The head of each agency that has an advisory 
committee shall designate an Advisory Committee Man-
agement Officer who shall— 
‘‘(1) be a senior official who is— 
‘‘(A) an expert in implementing the re-
quirements of this Act and regulations promul-
gated pursuant to this Act; and 
‘‘(B) the primary point of contact for the 
General Services Administration; 
‘‘(2) be responsible for the establishment, man-
agement, and supervision of the advisory committees 
of the agency, including establishing procedures, per-
formance measures, and outcomes for such commit-
tees; 
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‘‘(3) assemble and maintain the reports, 
records, and other papers (including advisory com-
mittee meeting materials) of any such committee 
during its existence; 
‘‘(4) ensure any such committee and cor-
responding agency staff adhere to the provisions of 
this Act and any regulations promulgated pursuant 
to this Act; 
‘‘(5) maintain records on each employee of any 
such committee and completion of training required 
for any such employee; 
‘‘(6) be responsible for providing the informa-
tion required in section 7(b) of this Act to the Ad-
ministrator; and 
‘‘(7) carry out, on behalf of that agency, the 
provisions of section 552 of title 5, United States 
Code, with respect to the reports, records, and other 
papers described in paragraph (3).’’. 
SEC. 6. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW AND REPORTS. 
(a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall review compliance by agencies with the Fed-
eral Advisory Committee Act, as amended by this Act, in-
cluding whether agencies are appropriately appointing ad-
visory committee members as either special Government 
employees or representatives. 
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(b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall submit 
to the committees described in subsection (c) two reports 
on the results of the review, as follows: 
(1) The first report shall be submitted not later 
than 1 year after the date of promulgation of regula-
tions under section 7(c) of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), as amended by sec-
tion 2(c). 
(2) The second report shall be submitted not 
later than 5 years after such date of promulgation 
of regulations. 
(c) COMMITTEES.—The committees described in this 
subsection are the Committee on Oversight and Govern-
ment Reform of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs of the Senate. 
SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 
ACT TO TRADE ADVISORY COMMITTEES. 
Section 135(f)(2)(A) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
U.S.C. 2155(f)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘sub-
sections (a) and (b) of sections 10 and 11 of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) 
and (b) of section 10 and subsections (a)(7), (a)(8), 
(a)(9), (b)(2), and (d) of section 11 of the Federal Advi-
sory Committee Act’’. 
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SEC. 8. 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 meaning given that term in section 202(a) 
of title 18, United States Code.’’. 
SEC. 9. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 
Section 7(d)(1) of the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘the rate 
specified for GS–18 of the General Schedule under 
section 5332’’ and inserting ‘‘the rate for level IV of 
the Executive Schedule under section 5315’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ‘‘handi-
capped individuals (within the meaning of section 
501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
794))’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals with disabilities 
(as defined in section 7(20) of the Rehabilitation Act 
of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705(20)))’’. 
SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect 30 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 11. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 
requirements of this Act and the amendments made by 
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this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using 
amounts otherwise authorized. 
Passed the House of Representatives January 4, 
2017. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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