‘‘(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. 
‘‘(7) Nothing in this subsection shall be con-
strued to supersede the inapplicability of this Act 
with respect to peer review groups appointed under 
paragraph (16) of section 402(b) of the Public 
Health Service Act, as described in the flush text 
following paragraph (25)(B) of such section.’’. 
(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
REC-
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OMMENDATIONS;’’ 
after 
‘‘RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES OF AGENCY HEADS;’’; 
(B) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c); and 
(C) by inserting after subsection (a) the 
following: 
‘‘(b) The head of each agency shall ensure that the 
agency does not interfere with the free and independent 
participation, expression of views, and deliberation by 
committee members. Each advisory committee shall in-
clude a statement describing the process used by the advi-
sory committee in formulating the advice and rec-
ommendations when they are transmitted to the agency.’’; 
and 
(2) in section 10— 
(A) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; 
CHAIR’’ after ‘‘ATTENDANCE’’; and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (f) the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) The chair shall not be an employee of the agency 
to which the advisory committee reports, unless— 
‘‘(1) a statute specifically authorizes selection of 
such an employee as the chair; or 
‘‘(2) the head of the agency directs an employee 
to serve as the chair.’’. 
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SEC. 3. PREVENTING EFFORTS TO CIRCUMVENT THE FED-
ERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AND PUB-
LIC DISCLOSURE. 
(a) 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).’’. 
(b) 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.’’. 
(c) ADVISORY COMMITTEES CONTAINING SPECIAL 
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Section 4 of the Federal Ad-
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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: 
‘‘(d) 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).’’. 
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. 
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‘‘(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— 
‘‘(i) designated as a special Govern-
ment employee; 
‘‘(ii) a representative; or 
‘‘(iii) a full-time or permanent part- 
time officer or employee of the Federal 
Government. 
‘‘(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-
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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). 
‘‘(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.— 
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‘‘(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 subsection 
(a) available electronically on a publicly available 
website of the agency and to the Administrator at 
least 15 calendar days before each meeting of an ad-
visory committee. If the head of the agency deter-
mines that such timing is not practicable for any re-
quired information, such head shall make the infor-
mation available as soon as practicable but no later 
than 48 hours before the next meeting of the com-
mittee. An agency may withhold from disclosure any 
information that would be exempt from disclosure 
under section 552 of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(2) WEBSITE AVAILABILITY.—The head of an 
agency shall make available electronically, on a pub-
licly available website of the agency, detailed min-
utes and, to the extent available, a transcript or 
audio or video recording of each advisory committee 
meeting not later than 45 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. 
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‘‘(c) PROVISION
OF INFORMATION
BY ADMINIS-
TRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES.—The Administrator of 
General Services shall provide, on a publicly available 
website of the General Services Administration, electronic 
access to the information made available by each agency 
under this section. 
‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF MEETING MATERIALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2) and where prohibited by contractual 
agreements entered into prior to the effective date of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 
2021, agencies and advisory committees shall make 
available to any person, at actual cost of duplication, 
copies of advisory committee meeting materials. 
‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall be construed to require the disclosure 
of information that is protected from mandatory dis-
closure by statute.’’. 
(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 
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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. 
‘‘(6) The agency responsible for providing the 
necessary support for the committee. 
‘‘(7) The responsibilities of the officer or em-
ployee of the Federal Government designated under 
section 10(e). 
‘‘(8) The estimated number and frequency of 
committee meetings. 
‘‘(9) The period of time necessary for the com-
mittee to carry out its purposes. 
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‘‘(10) The committee’s termination date, if less 
than 2 years from the date of the committee’s estab-
lishment. 
‘‘(11) The estimated number of members and a 
description of the expertise needed to carry out the 
objectives of the committee. 
‘‘(12) A description of whether the committee 
will be composed of full- or part-time Government 
employees, special Government employees, represent-
atives, or a combination of categories. 
‘‘(13) Whether the agency intends to create 
subcommittees and if so, the agency official author-
ized to exercise such authority. 
‘‘(14) The estimated annual operating costs in 
dollars and full-time equivalent positions for such 
committee. 
‘‘(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 
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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) ensure the establishment, management, 
and supervision of the advisory committees of the 
agency, including establishing procedures, perform-
ance measures, and outcomes for such committees; 
‘‘(3) ensure the assembly and maintenance of 
the reports, records, and other papers (including ad-
visory committee 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; 
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‘‘(5) ensure the maintenance of 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 who are not full-time or perma-
nent part-time officers or employees of the Federal Gov-
ernment as either special Government employees or rep-
resentatives. 
(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 
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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 Reform 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen-
ate. 
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’’. 
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: 
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‘‘(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)’’. 
SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act and the amendments made by 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 
this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using 
amounts otherwise authorized. 
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SEC. 12. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 
by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage. 
Æ 
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