NCD Federal Advisory Committee Act Primer

The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 2, which governs the operations of National Council on Disability (NCD) advisory committees, was enacted to promote good government values such as openness, accountability and balance of viewpoints consistent with administrative efficiency and cost-containment.

Notice of Public Meetings: FACA requires that timely notice of each advisory committee meeting be published in the Federal Register and that other forms of public notice be used to inform interested persons of the time, place, and agenda of the meeting. The Designated Federal Official (DFO) for the advisory committee is responsible for providing information to the Committee Management Officer (CMO) for so that advisory committee meeting notices will appear in the Federal Register, on NCD's Web site, and will be sent to NCD's listserv.

Subgroup Meetings: Notice of meetings of subgroups of the NCD advisory committees, including, but not limited to, subcommittees, in which the members thereof do not engage in ultimate decision-making relative to advisory committee recommendations to NCD, is not required and public attendance and participation is not mandatory. Subgroups report to the advisory committee (not to NCD).

Meeting Records: Under FACA, NCD advisory committees are required to keep detailed minutes, including a record of the persons present at committee meetings and documents received, issued or approved by committees. These documents and all other advisory committee minutes, transcripts, reports, etc. will be available for public inspection and copying at the offices of each committee's DFO, National Council on Disability, 1331 F Street, NW, Suite 850, Washington, DC. Selected documents will also be available on the Internet at (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/advisory/advisory.htm).

Meeting Responsibility: Meetings of NCD advisory committees may be held only when called by, or with the advance approval of the DFO with an agenda approved by her/him. Each committee's DFO, an NCD employee, must be present at each respective advisory committee meeting and may adjourn if the public interest requires. Any requests for information relative to the applicability of FACA to NCD's advisory committees’ transactions should be directed to the respective DFO.

Public Involvement in Meetings: Members of the public may attend any meeting or portion of a meeting that is not closed to the public and may, at the determination of the DFO or Chair, as appropriate, offer oral comment at such meeting. The DFO or Chair may decide in advance to exclude oral public comment during a meeting, in which case the meeting notice published in the Federal Register shall state that oral comment from the public is excluded and shall invite written comment as an alternative. Members of the public may submit written statements to an advisory committee at any time.

NCD Member Interaction: NCD's chairperson and vice chairperson(s) are ex officio members of all NCD advisory committees. NCD’s chairperson is responsible for assignment of all members of NCD’s regular or standing committees. The opportunity exists for advisory committee members to serve with NCD Council members on certain identified standing committees. Interested advisory committee members can be assigned by NCD’s Chairperson as ad hoc members (without voting privilege). NCD’s standing committees will function as the primary body through which agency work priorities and advisory committee recommendations are deliberated before potential presentation to the full Council.

Nondisclosure: NCD advisory committee members who are assigned to NCD committees will be asked to sign nondisclosure statements to protect the integrity of NCD and its ongoing work.