Science and Technology in the National Interest Ensuring the Best Presidential and Federal Advisory Committee Science and Technology Appointments (2005) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E Federal Advisory Committees: Background and Current Issues
Appendix E Federal Advisory Committees: Background and Current Issues
Pages 129-150
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From page 129... ...
enterprise, and using S&T advice to inform policy decisions) , have members of varied assignment (such as consultant, representative, or special government employee)
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NOTE: Figures E-1 to E-3 were developed from original data obtained through the General Services Administration-sponsored Web site www.fido.gov (Federal Interagency Databases Online) , which provides full public access to data pertaining to committees governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act as reported by each agency.
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From page 131... ...
Note that there is not always a match -- although a committee may have indicated that it is a nonscientific advisory committee, the S&T membership might be more than 25 percent. Issues Committee membership and the nature of the appoint ment process may vary with the type of committee and its purpose.
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From page 132... ...
For example, some have questioned the appropriateness of asking a scientist, engineer, or health professional about political affiliation, voting record, policy perspective on an issue, or campaign contribu tions and using the resulting information to determine membership on a federal advisory committee; others believe that it is appropriate 132
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From page 133... ...
concluded that a number of provisions in federal personnel law prohibit agencies from discriminating against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of political affiliation. GAO noted that whether these provisions apply to a particular advisory committee candidate depends on the candidate's federal employment status (or what it would be if selected)
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In addition, the CMO may request criminal-background checks on potential committee members and respond or be prepared to respond to members of Congress who nominate constituents for a federal advisory committee. In addition, each committee has a designated federal officer (DFO)
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After that, an agency, according to this executive order, could not establish new federal advisory commit tees unless the committee is required by statute or the agency head (a) finds that compelling considerations necessitate creation of such a committee, and (b)
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Establishment Authority FIGURE E-3 Establishment authority of committees governed by Federal Advisory Committee Act with over 50 percent S&T membership. NOTE: These data do not include committees for which GSA CMS data was not reported.
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From page 137... ...
Some believe that stating this information before committee formation would help to reduce concerns about politicization of the committee's member ship. A concern about advisory committees established by congressional mandate is that only in rare cases do they have a sunset law -- something that requires re-establishment of the committee for it to continue in existence (in contrast with nonstatu tory committees, which within 2 years of their charter must termi nate or be renewed)
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From page 138... ...
A federal advisory committee may form standing and ad hoc subcommittees if the committee charter permits it. The subcommittee is a mechanism to supplement the expertise of the parent committee on an ad hoc basis without invoking the OMB determined advisory committee limit of the agency in question.
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From page 139... ...
Member of its peer-review committees are to be selected on the basis of their competence as independent investiga tors in a scientific or clinical discipline or research specialty as shown by their education, publications, activities, achievements, and honors. NIH also indicates that service on its advisory commit tees demands mature judgment, balanced perspective, objectivity, and the ability to work effectively in a group.
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The following data on mechanisms of public access to committee information are from the GSA CMS performance data for FY 2003: · Contact designated federal officer 70.3% · Agency Web site 59.9% · Committee Web site 25.3% · GSA FACA Web site 43.5% · Publications 27.9% · Other 13.8% Issues In its 2004 report7 on the mechanisms used to determine the independence and balance of federal advisory committees, GAO came to the conclusion that additional guidance should be provided to the agencies to ensure that their federal advisory committees are independent and balanced. It identified a number of promising practices that could help to ensure independence and balance.
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From page 141... ...
, and whether the committee arrives at decisions by voting or consensus. Note that access to specific committee information is somewhat limited across the board according to the GSA perfor mance database.
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The rules that apply to each committee mem ber category are provided in a 1982 Office of Government Ethics Memorandum 82 x 22.8 This memorandum discusses the applica bility of the conflict-of-interest statues to persons not regularly employed in the federal government who accept appointments as members of an advisory committee, board, commission, or similar activity established in a department or agency of the executive branch. Committee members may also fall under federal personnel rules and procedures (either for the federal government as a whole 8http://www.usoge.gov/pages/advisory_opinions/advop_files/1982/82x22.pdf 142
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Depending on how a specific agency handles its personnel func tions, an SGE may receive a formal appointment (as in EPA) or simply use an appointment letter without going through the formal personnel appointment process (as in GSA)
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Al though advisory committees made up of both members and consult ants often operate in a collegial, consensus-building manner, members vote, but consultants do not. At other agencies, commit tees may be made up entirely of consultants (for example, NIH special-emphasis panels, which meet only once)
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From page 145... ...
-- would be useful for agencies and would encourage scientists, engineers, and health professionals of the highest caliber to serve on committees. In many cases, the SGE forms are not sufficiently nuanced to identify potential COI concerns, so an agency specific form would have to be developed to respond to them.
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FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES The data below are from the FY 2003 performance-measure reports of the 975 committees in place that year:10 · Most significant program outcomes: o Improvements in health and safety 31.5% o Trust in government 41.2% o Major policy changes 27.6% o Advances in scientific research 37.5% o Effective grant-making 21.3% o Improved service delivery 30.3% o Increased customer satisfaction 31.1% o Implementation of laws or regulatory requirements 36.3% o Other 14.1% · Other agency actions: o Reorganized priorities 37.3% o Reallocated resources 30.4% o Issued new regulations 13.9% o Proposed legislation 6.5% o Approved grants or other payments 19.4% o Other 26.1% · Number of recommendations: 174,428 · Proportion of recommendations fully implemented: 43% · Proportion of recommendations partly implemented: 2% · Agency feedback on degree of implementation of recommendations: o Yes 69.8% o No 15.9% o Not applicable 14.3% The "most significant program outcomes" portion of the analysis, of course, reflects the nature of the committees examined. 10 One committee in 2003 did not report its information.
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The next step in the Gallup process is to conduct a best practices study by using the committees that were in the top 10 11GSA Advisory Committee Engagement Survey, Overall Results, presented at Interagency Group meeting on September 23, 2004.
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The suggestions have been gathered from responses to the present committee's call for comments and from meetings with GSA, OGE, GAO, and various federal-agency staff. They represent just some of the ideas of those in the S&T community and elsewhere for improving the effectiveness of the federal advisory committee process.
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From page 149... ...
, not inappropriate ones (such as about voting record, party affiliation, campaign contributions, and policy positions) ; provide an ombudsperson who has high-level S&T credentials in case questions arise during this process Once potential committee member agrees to serve, make committee membership provisional and put on Web site for public comment for limited pre-specified time Orient committee members to basic laws and ethics rules that govern the work of federal advisory committees including degree to which federal officials may influence committee Put minutes of committee meetings on Web site Within a year of release of committee's report or other committee product, provide feedback to committee on its impact (if any)
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