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.)
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-
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
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
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
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) INTERAGENCY ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—Section 
11 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
App.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) INTERAGENCY
ADVISORY
COMMITTEES.—(1) 
Any communication between— 
‘‘(A) an interagency advisory committee estab-
lished by the President or the Vice President or any 
member or staff acting on behalf of such an inter-
agency advisory committee, and 
‘‘(B) any person who is not an officer or em-
ployee of the Federal Government, 
shall be made available for public inspection and 
copying. Any portion of a communication that in-
volves a matter described in section 552(b) of title 
5, United States Code, or that is subject to a valid 
constitutionally based privilege against such disclo-
sure, may be withheld from public disclosure. 
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘interagency advi-
sory committee’ means any committee, board, commission, 
council, conference, panel, task force, or other similar 
group, or any subcommittee or other subgroup thereof, es-
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) 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) The reason the member was ap-
pointed to the committee. 
‘‘(C) Whether the member is designated as 
a special government employee or a representa-
tive. 
‘‘(D) In the case of a representative, the 
individuals or entity whose viewpoint the mem-
ber represents. 
‘‘(E) Any conflict of interest relevant to 
the functions to be performed by the committee. 
‘‘(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 summary description of the 
conflict necessitating the certification, and the rea-
son for granting the certification. 
‘‘(5) A summary of the process used by the ad-
visory committee for making decisions. 
‘‘(6) Transcripts or audio or video recordings of 
all meetings of the committee. 
‘‘(7) 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. 
‘‘(8) Notices of future meetings of the com-
mittee. 
‘‘(9) Any additional information considered rel-
evant 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 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(e) 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.’’. 
SEC. 5. 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.