Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation (ACOT)
CHARTER
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Purpose
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a vital role
in safeguarding and promoting public health by overseeing the development
of an equitable and effective organ donation, procurement, allocation,
and transplantation system in the United States. The recommendations
of the Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation will facilitate
HHS efforts to oversee the Organ Procurement and Transplantation
Network (OPTN), as envisioned in the National Organ Transplant Act
of 1984, as amended.
Authority
42 U.S.C. 217a; Section 222 of the Public Health Service Act, as
amended; 42 CFR 121.12 (64 FR 56661). The Committee is governed
by the provisions of Public Law 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix
2), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory
committees.
Function
The Committee shall advise the Secretary, acting through the Administrator,
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), on all aspects
of organ donation, procurement, allocation, and transplantation,
and on such other matters that the Secretary determines. One of
its principal functions shall be to advise the Secretary on ways
to maximize Federal efforts to increase living and deceased organ
donation nationally.
The Committee shall, at the request of the Secretary, review significant
proposed OPTN policies submitted for Secretarial approval to recommend
whether they should be made enforceable. It shall provide expert
input to the Secretary on the latest advances in the science of
transplantation, the OPTN's system of collecting, disseminating
and ensuring the validity, accuracy, timeliness and usefulness of
data, and additional medical, public health, ethical, legal, financial
coverage, and socioeconomic issues that are relevant to transplantation.
Structure
The Committee shall consist of up to 25 members, including the
Chair. Members and Chair shall be selected by the Secretary from
individuals knowledgeable in such fields as organ donation, health
care public policy, transplantation medicine and surgery, critical
care medicine and other medical specialties involved in the identification
and referral of donors, non-physician transplant professions, nursing,
epidemiology, immunology, law and bioethics, behavioral sciences,
economics and statistics, as well as representatives of transplant
candidates, transplant recipients, organ donors, and family members.
To the extent practicable, Committee members should represent the
minority, gender and geographic diversity of transplant candidates,
transplant recipients, organ donors and family members served by
the OPTN.
The Committee also shall consist of the Director of the National
Institutes of Health and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (or the designees of such officials), each
of whom shall be a non-voting ex officio member. The Secretary also
may appoint other non-voting ex officio members, or designees of
such officials, as the Secretary deems necessary for the Committee
to effectively carry out its function.
As necessary, standing and ad hoc subcommittees, composed of members
of the parent committee, may be established to perform specific
functions within the Committee's jurisdiction. The Department Committee
Management Officer shall be notified upon establishment of each
subcommittee, and shall be provided information on its name, membership,
function, and estimated frequency of meetings.
Members shall be invited to serve for overlapping 4-year terms.
Terms past the termination date of the Committee are contingent
upon renewal of the Committee by appropriate action prior to this
date. Members may serve after the expiration of their terms until
their successors have taken office. The Secretary shall appoint
a Chair from among the Committee members.
A vacancy on the Advisory Committee shall be filled in the manner
in which the original appointment was made and shall be subjected
to any conditions that applied with respect to the original appointment.
An individual chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed for the
remainder of the term of the member replaced. The vacancy shall
not affect the power of the remaining members to execute the duties
of the Committee.
Management and support services shall be provided by HRSA's Special
Programs Bureau.
Meetings
Meetings shall be held at least 2 times per year at the call of
the Chair with the advance approval of a Government official, who
shall also approve the agenda. A Government official shall be present
at all meetings.
A majority of the Committee shall constitute a quorum.
Meetings shall be open to the public except as determined otherwise
by the Secretary or other officials to whom the authority has been
delegated. Notice of all meetings shall be provided to the public.
Meetings shall be conducted, and records of the proceedings kept,
as required by applicable laws and departmental regulations.
Compensation
Members shall be paid at a rate not to exceed the daily equivalent
of the rate in effect for Executive Level IV of the Executive Schedule,
for each day they are engaged in the performance of their duties
as members of the Committee. Members shall receive per diem and
travel expenses as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5703, as amended, for
persons employed intermittently in the Government service. Members
who are officers or employees of the United States shall not receive
compensation for service on the Committee.
Annual Cost Estimate
Estimated annual cost for operating the Committee, including compensation
and travel expenses for members but excluding staff support, is
$390,668. Estimated annual person-years of staff support required
is 2.55, at an estimated annual cost of $340,527.
Reports
In the event a portion of a meeting is closed to the public, a
report shall be prepared that shall contain, at a minimum, a list
of members and their business addresses, the Committee's function,
dates and places of meetings, and a summary of Committee activities
and recommendations made during the fiscal year. A copy of the report
shall be provided to the Department Committee Management Officer.
Termination Date
Unless renewed by appropriate action prior to its expiration, the
Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation will terminate on September
1, 2006.
APPROVED:
07/06/2004
Date
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Steven A. Pelovitz
Acting Deputy Associate Administrator for
Management and Program Support
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