The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, Sec. 1, Oct. 6, 1972, 86 Stat. 770) became law in 1972 and is the legal foundation defining how federal advisory committees operate.
- Any time a group of people who are not full time or permanent part time federal employees comes together to provide collective advice to the government, the FACA is triggered
- Members serve a term of one to four years, renewed annually
- Members may serve no more than two consecutive four-year terms
- Members may serve on no more than two DoD federal advisory committees concurrently
- Members can only be appointed by the Secretary of Defense or Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Members are given the designation of Special Government Employee
- Members are not compensated other than reimbursement for travel expenses for attending committee meetings and conducting committee business