Federal Advisory Committee Act

The Federal Advisory Committee Act (or FACA) is a United States federal law (Pub. L. 92–463, 6 October 1972), which governs the behavior of federal advisory committees. There are now approximately 1,000 such committees. In particular the Act restricts the formation of such committees to only those which are deemed essential, limits their powers to provision of advice to officers and agencies in the executive branch of the Federal Government, and limits the length of term during which any such committee may operate. Further, FACA was an attempt by Congress to curtail the rampant "locker-room discussion" that had become prevalent in administrative decisions. These "locker-room discussion" are masked under titles like "task force," "subcommittee," and "working group" meetings, which are less than full FACA meetings and so they do not have to be open to the public. FACA declared that all administrative procedures and hearings were to be public knowledge.

The Federal Advisory Committee Act requires a database that may be accessed by all Federal agencies to manage advisory committees government-wide. The database is used by Congress to perform oversight of related Executive Branch programs. It is also searchable and available to inform the public, the media, and others, to stay abreast of important developments resulting from advisory committee activities. Members of each of the various committees are listed with information such as term of service and corporate affiliation. Facts sheets, reports, expenses, charter, and other information is included in the database.

The Act is frequently cited in Federal legislation as follows: "The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.)".

In March, 21012 the Government Accountability Office issued a report on FACA groups in DOT and DOE. In this report, they state:

"Advisory groups—those established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and other groups not subject to the act—can play an important role in the development of policy and government regulations. There are more than 1,000 FACA advisory groups and an unknown number of non-FACA advisory groups governmentwide. Non-FACA groups include intergovernmental groups. Section 21 of Pub. L. No. 111-139 requires GAO to conduct routine investigations to identify programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives with duplicative goals and activities. In that context, GAO reviewed (1) the extent to which the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) and Department of Energy’s (DOE) assessment process helps ensure advisory group efforts are not duplicative and what challenges, if any, exist in assessing potential duplication, and (2) to what extent DOT and DOE advisory groups are useful in assisting their respective agencies in carrying out their missions and how the groups’ usefulness could be enhanced." This review resulted in four recommendations geared toward preventing duplication of efforts among FACA groups.

External links

• FACA database search and area of interest search
• Federal Register
• Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2)
• Federal Advisory Committee Act
• Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Management Overview (GSA)
• GAO Report [1]