Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)
Federal advisory committees are established to provide consensus advice and include private sector participation that affords an expertise not available within the Department or other Federal agencies. This advice can be for the purpose of obtaining advice or recommendations on issues or policies that are within the scope of the interest of the agency. The committees are established either legislatively or by Executive Order (called non-discretionary committees), or by the Department (called discretionary committees).
There are approximately 60 advisory committees in the Department of Commerce and they are established and operated in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). All the information collected, including the committee charters, can be searched and downloaded at the FACA database.
More information about Federal Advisory Committees can be found on the GSA website.