{ "id": "IN10589", "type": "CRS Insight", "typeId": "INSIGHTS", "number": "IN10589", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 456192, "date": "2016-09-30", "retrieved": "2017-04-21T15:14:02.830508", "title": "Statutorily Required Federal Advisory Committees that Began Operations in FY2015", "summary": "Congress regularly establishes federal advisory committees\u2014sometimes called task forces, panels, commissions, working groups, boards, councils, or conferences. Many of these committees are required to operate pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA; 5 U.S.C. Appendix), which seeks to make advisory committee operations more accessible and transparent. Federal advisory committees are one of only a few formalized mechanisms for private-sector citizens to participate in the executive branch\u2019s policymaking process. FACA committees are prohibited from creating policy or issuing regulations. Their role is to remain strictly advisory. For a list of the bills pending in the 114th Congress that seek to establish a federal advisory committee see CRS Report R44232, Creating a Federal Advisory Committee in the Executive Branch, by Wendy Ginsberg.\nEach year, about 1,000 FACA committees operate governmentwide. In FY2015, 1,009 active federal advisory committees held 7,421 meetings and cost more than $367 million to operate. These committees assist federal agencies by providing policy advice and recommendations on a wide range of issues, including childhood vaccines, appropriate uses of regional resources, and community banking.\nCongress, Presidents, and executive branch agencies establish and use federal advisory committees to gain expertise and policy advice from individuals outside the federal government. In FY2015, 42 new FACA committees were established, 20 of which were required by statute. In contrast, the President established 4 of the 42 new advisory committees and agencies established the other 18. In recent years, the number of new FACA committees required to be established by statute has ranged from 5 committees in FY2012 to 25 in FY2011. \nBelow, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides the list of the 20 federal advisory committees required by statute that began operations in FY2015. The Department of the Interior gained five new statutorily required federal advisory committees, the highest number of any federal agency. The Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture were both required to administer four new statutory federal advisory committees in FY2015. Six of the 20 newly established statutory committees were resource advisory councils, which generally provide federal officials advice on public land use.\nThe tables below include the name of the committee, its affiliated federal agency or department, and its statutory authority. In most cases, the table includes the authorizing language\u2019s U.S. Code citation. In some cases, when an advisory body\u2019s authority is not codified, the most recent statutory authority for the committee is provided.\nTable 1. Federal Advisory Committees Required by Statute, FY2015\nCommittee Name\nStatutory Authoritya\n\nDepartment of Defense\n\nLake Eufaula Advisory Committeeb\nWater Resources Development Act of 2007, P.L. 110-114, \u00a73133(b)(1) \nNational Commission on the Future of the Army\nCarl Levin and Howard P. \u201cBuck\" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, P.L. 113-291, \u00a71702\nDepartment of the Interior\nCoastal Oregon Resource Advisory Council\n43 U.S.C. \u00a71739\n\nNorthern California District Resource Advisory Councilc\n43 U.S.C. \u00a71739\n\n\nNorthwest Oregon Resource Advisory Committee\n43 U.S.C. \u00a71739\n\n\nSouthwest Oregon Resource Advisory Council\n43 U.S.C. \u00a71739\n\n\nTule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument Advisory Council\nCarl Levin and Howard P. \u201cBuck\" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, P.L. 113-291, \u00a73092(a)(6)\nDepartment of Labor\n\nAdvisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health\nCarl Levin and Howard P. \u201cBuck\" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, P.L. 113-291, \u00a73141, with authority to administer the committee delegated to the Secretary of Labor from the President pursuant to Executive Order 13699\n\nWorkforce Information Advisory Council\n29 U.S.C. \u00a749l-2\n\nEnvironmental Protection Agency\n\nHazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board\n42 U.S.C. \u00a76939g \n\n\nDepartment of Health and Human Services\n\nAdvisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children\n42 U.S.C. \u00a7300b-10\n\n\nDisability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research Advisory Council\n29 U.S.C. \u00a7765\n\n\nMedicare Advisory Panel on Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Tests\n42 U.S.C. \u00a71395m-1\n\n\nNational Asthma Education Prevention Program Coordinating Committeed\n42 U.S.C. \u00a7285b-7b\n\n\nDepartment of the Treasury\n\nAdvisory Committee on Risk-Sharing Mechanisms\n15 U.S.C. \u00a76701 note\n\n\nTreasury Tribal Advisory Committee\n26 U.S.C. \u00a7139E note \n\nDepartment of Agriculture\n\nAlabama Resource Advisory Committee\n16 U.S.C. \u00a77125\n\nBlack Hills Resource Advisory Committee\n16 U.S.C. \u00a77125\n\nNational Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board\n7 U.S.C. \u00a73123\n\n\nDepartment of Veterans Affairs\n\nCommission on Care\n38 U.S.C. \u00a71701 note\n\nSource: Congressional Research Service analysis of the Federal Advisory Committee Act Database, at http://facadatabase.gov/. \nNotes: \nCodification does not affect the duties or operations of a federal advisory committee. \nAccording to Department of Defense (DOD) officials, the eight-year gap between enactment of the committee\u2019s establishing authority and its operations was caused by a department freeze on the implementation of new advisory committees as well as internal DOD disagreements over the ethics designations of the committee\u2019s membership. \nAccording to Bureau of Labor Management officials, in FY2015, the Northeast California and Northwest California resource advisory councils (originally established in 1995) merged to become Northern California District Resource Advisory Council. \nAccording to National Institutes of Health officials, the committee had been statutorily required since 2000, and had been operating outside of FACA\u2019s requirements. A restructuring of the committee\u2019s membership in FY2015 prompted institute officials to determine the committee should operate pursuant to FACA.", "type": "CRS Insight", "typeId": "INSIGHTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/IN10589", "sha1": "32d491ee22cc892b6abaa1c0427a5d7620e0035a", "filename": "files/20160930_IN10589_32d491ee22cc892b6abaa1c0427a5d7620e0035a.html", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "CRS Insights", "Economic Policy", "National Defense" ] }