Federal Advisory Committee Act

Definition/Scope: The Federal Advisory Committee Act (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. The Act restricts the formation of such committees to only those which are deemed essential, limits their powers to provide 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. FACA declared that all administrative procedures and hearings were to be public knowledge. Also see "sunshine clause" and "APA Section 553." The FACA requires a database that may be accessed by all Federal agencies to manage advisory committees government-wide. The database is used by the 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.

Acronym:

FACA

Broader Terms:

General Services Administration

Narrower Terms:

Environmental Management Advisory Board
Environmental Management Advisory Board

Related Terms:

Congressional committees
Congressional oversight committees
House committees
policy coordinating committees
Rules Committee