Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Management Overview

The Committee Management Secretariat provides the following services to the groups it supports:

• Training - two days of instruction from the subject matter experts working in the FACA community
• Annual Comprehensive Review Process required by FACA
• Consultations
  • To ensure that the committees comply with FACA 
  • Interpretations of the other federal open meeting laws
• Advice and Guidance - on establishing and managing federal advisory committees.

Background

The Federal Advisory Committee Act was enacted in 1972 to ensure that advice by the various advisory committees formed over the years is objective and accessible to the public. The Act formalized a process for establishing, operating, overseeing, and terminating these advisory bodies and created the Committee Management Secretariat to monitor compliance with the Act.

In 1976, Executive Order 12024 delegated to the administrator of GSA all responsibilities of the president for implementing the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Secretariat operations are directed at reporting to the president and Congress on the activities of at least 1000 federal advisory committees. Samples of documents and forms used by the Secretariat and its clients can be found in the “Advice and Guidance” pages.

Executive orders and congressional revisions have further refined the extension and the application of the Act in 1993, 1997, and 1998, and the extent and nature of the Secretariat’s reporting of the activities of the committees. The legal history is easy to follow in the “Legislation and Regulation” pages.