I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1104 
To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase the transparency 
of Federal advisory committees, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2013 
Mr. CLAY (for himself, Mr. CUMMINGS, and Mr. CONNOLLY) 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 jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase 
the transparency of Federal advisory committees, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2013’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
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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 Com-
mittees. 
Sec. 8. Definitions. 
Sec. 9. Technical and conforming amendments. 
Sec. 10. 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: 
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‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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 
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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)(3) 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 ‘‘promulgate regulations 
and’’ after ‘‘The Administrator shall’’. 
(d) ENSURING INDEPENDENT ADVICE
AND REC-
OMMENDATIONS.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 
(1) in section 8— 
(A) in the section heading, by inserting 
‘‘INDEPENDENT
ADVICE
AND
RECOMMENDA-
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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 new subsection: 
‘‘(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 participates in committee meetings 
as if the individual were a member, even if the individual 
does not have the right to vote or veto the advice or rec-
ommendations 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-
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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.), 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-
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).’’. 
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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. 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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) 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). 
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‘‘(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-
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. 
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