Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 1997
PL 105-153 (H.R.2977), enacted 12/17/1997

PUBLIC LAW 105-153—DEC. 17, 1997 
111 STAT. 2689 
Public Law 105-153 
105th Congress 
An Act 
To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to clarify public disclosure require- 
-. 
._ ^-Q_ 
ments that are applicable to the National Academy of Sciences and the National 
——'. 
Academy of Public Administration. 
fH.R. 2977] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
Federal Advisory 
Committee Act 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
Amendments of 
1997 
This Act may be cited as the "Federal Advisory Committee 
5 usc app. 1 
Act Amendments of 1997". 
note. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT. 
(a) EXCLUSIONS FROM DEFINITION.—Section 3(2) of the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended in the matter 
following subparagraph (C), by strilang "such term excludes" and 
all that follows through the period and inserting the following: 
"such term excludes (i) £iny committee that is composed wholly 
of full-time, or permanent part-time, officers or employees of the 
Federal Government, and (ii) any committee that is created by 
the National Academy of Sciences or the National Academy of 
Public Administration.". 
(b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF 
SCIENCES AND THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRA-
TION.—Such Act is further amended by redesignating section 15 
as section 16 and inserting after section 14 the following new 
section: 
"REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
AND THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 
"SEC. 15. (a) IN GENERAL.—^An agency may not use any advice 
or recommendation provided by the National Academy of Sciences 
or National Academy of Public Administration that was developed 
by use of a committee created by that academy under an agreement 
with an agency, unless— 
"(1) the committee was not subject to any actual msinage-
ment or control by an agency or an officer of the Federal 
Government; 
"(2) in the case of a committee created after the date 
of the enactment of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 
Amendments of 1997, the membership of the committee was 
appointed in accordance with the requirements described in 
subsection (b)(1); and 
"(3) in developing the advice or recommendation, the acad-
emy complied with— 
I l l STAT. 2690 
PUBLIC LAW 105-153—DEC. 17, 1997 
"(A) subsection (b)(2) through (6), in the case of any 
advice or recommendation provided by the National Acad-
emy of Sciences; or 
"(B) subsection (b)(2) and (5), in the case of any advice 
or recommendation provided by the National Academy of 
Public Administration, 
"(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements referred to in sub-
section (a) are as follows: 
Notice. 
"(1) The Academy shall determine and provide public notice 
of the names and brief biographies of individuals that the 
Academy appoints or intends to appoint to serve on the commit-
tee. The Academy shall determine and provide a reasonable 
opportunity for the public to comment on such appointments 
before they are made or, if the Academy determines such prior 
comment is not practicable, in the period immediately following 
the appointments. The Academy shall make its best efforts 
to ensure that (A) no individual appointed to serve on the 
committee has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the 
functions to be performed, unless such conflict is promptly 
and publicly disclosed and the Academy determines that the 
conflict is unavoidable, (B) the committee membership is fairly 
balanced as determined by the Academy to be appropriate 
for the functions to be performed, and (C) the final report 
of the Academy will be the result of the Academes independent 
judgment. The Academy shall require that individuals that 
the Academy appoints or intends to appoint to serve on the 
committee inform the Academy of the individual's conflicts of 
interest that are relevant to the functions to be performed. 
Notice. 
"(2) The Academy shall determine and provide public notice 
of committee meetings that will be open to the public. 
"(3) The Academy shall ensure that meetings of the commit-
tee to gather data from individuals who are not officials, agents, 
or employees of the Academy are open to the public, unless 
the Academy determines that a meeting would disclose matters 
described in section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. The 
Academy shall make available to the public, at reasonable 
charge if appropriate, written materials presented to the 
committee by individuals who are not officials, agents, or 
employees of the Academy, unless the Academy determines 
that 
making 
material 
available 
would 
disclose 
matters 
described in that section. 
"(4) The Academy shall make available to the public as 
soon as practicable, at reasonable charge if appropriate, a brief 
summary of any committee meeting that is not a data gathering 
meeting, unless the Academy determines that the summary 
would disclose matters described in section 552(b) of title 5, 
United States Code. The summary shall identify the committee 
members present, the topics discussed, materials made avail-
able to the committee, and such other matters that the Academy 
determines should be included. 
Reports. 
"(5) The Academy shall make available to the public its 
final report, at reasonable charge if appropriate, unless the 
Academy determines that the report would disclose matters 
described in section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. If 
the Academy determines that the report would disclose matters 
described in that section, the Academy shall make public an 
PUBLIC LAW 105-153—DEC. 17, 1997 
111 STAT. 2691 
abbreviated version of the report that does not disclose those 
matters. 
"(6) After pubHcation of the final report, the Academy shall 
make publicly available the names of the principal reviewers 
who reviewed the report in draft form and who are not officials, 
agents, or employees of the Academy. 
"(c) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator of General Services may 
5 USC app. 3 
issue regulations implementing this section.". 
'^°^-
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), this 
section and the amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(2) RETROACTIVE EFFECT.—Subsection (a) and the amend-
ments made by subsection (a) shall be effective as of October 
6, 1972, except that they shall not apply with respect to or 
otherwise affect any particular advice or recommendations that 
are subject to any judicial action filed before the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. REPORT. 
5 USC app. 15 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Administrator of General Services shall submit a report 
to the Congress on the implementation of and compliance with 
the amendments made by this Act. 
Approved December 17, 1997, 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2977: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 143 (1997): 
Nov. 9, considered and passed House. 
Nov. 13, considered and passed Senate.