Federal Advisory Committee Act

The Federal Advisory Committee Act ("FACA"), 5 U.S.C. App. 2, §§ 1-16, restricts the creation and use of advisory committees by federal agencies. An advisory committee is any committee or similar group, which does not consist solely of federal officers or employees, and which is established by statute, by the President, or by a federal agency to advise the President or a federal agency or officer. Among other things, FACA imposes procedural requirements on the creation of advisory committees, requires advisory committees to be fairly balanced, requires the meetings of advisory committees to be public and to be preceded by public notice, and requires the papers of an advisory committee to be public. The Conference conducted a study of FACA in order to recommend possible improvements.  The project examined whether FACA is functioning effectively and efficiently almost 40 years after its enactment and suggested ways to reduce procedural burdens and enhance transparency and objectivity of advisory committees. The initial phase of this study examined potential uses of new media in relation to advisory committees under FACA.  The consultant for this phase of the study was James T. O’Reilly, Professor of Law, University of Cincinnati College of Law.  Additional research on more general questions concerning applicability and implementation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act was conducted by Project Advisor Reeve Bull.