§ 7. Responsibilities of the Administrator of General Services; Committee Management Secretariat, establishment; review; recommendations to President and Congress; agency cooperation; perfo
(a)
The Administrator shall establish and maintain within the General Services Administration a Committee Management Secretariat, which shall be responsible for all matters relating to advisory committees.
(b)
The Administrator shall, immediately after October 6, 1972, institute a comprehensive review of the activities and responsibilities of each advisory committee to determine—
(2)
whether, consistent with the provisions of applicable statutes, the responsibilities assigned to it should be revised;
The Administrator may from time to time request such information as he deems necessary to carry out his functions under this subsection. Upon the completion of the Administrator’s review he shall make recommendations to the President and to either the agency head or the Congress with respect to action he believes should be taken. Thereafter, the Administrator shall carry out a similar review annually. Agency heads shall cooperate with the Administrator in making the reviews required by this subsection.
(c)
The Administrator shall prescribe administrative guidelines and management controls applicable to advisory committees, and, to the maximum extent feasible, provide advice, assistance, and guidance to advisory committees to improve their performance. In carrying out his functions under this subsection, the Administrator shall consider the recommendations of each agency head with respect to means of improving the performance of advisory committees whose duties are related to such agency.
(d)
(1)
The Administrator, after study and consultation with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall establish guidelines with respect to uniform fair rates of pay for comparable services of members, staffs, and consultants of advisory committees in a manner which gives appropriate recognition to the responsibilities and qualifications required and other relevant factors. Such regulations shall provide that—
(A)
no member of any advisory committee or of the staff of any advisory committee shall receive compensation at a rate in excess of the rate specified for GS–18 of the General Schedule under section
5332 of title
5, United States Code;
(B)
such members, while engaged in the performance of their duties away from their homes or regular places of business, may be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section
5703 of title
5, United States Code, for persons employed intermittently in the Government service; and
(C)
such members—
(i)
who are blind or deaf or who otherwise qualify as handicapped individuals (within the meaning of section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794)), and
(ii)
who do not otherwise qualify for assistance under section
3102 of title
5, United States Code, by reason of being an employee of an agency (within the meaning of section 3102(a)(1) of such title 5),
may be provided services pursuant to section 3102 of such title 5 while in performance of their advisory committee duties.
(2)
Nothing in this subsection shall prevent—
(A)
an individual who (without regard to his service with an advisory committee) is a full-time employee of the United States, or
(B)
an individual who immediately before his service with an advisory committee was such an employee,
from receiving compensation at the rate at which he otherwise would be compensated (or was compensated) as a full-time employee of the United States.
(e)
The Administrator shall include in budget recommendations a summary of the amounts he deems necessary for the expenses of advisory committees, including the expenses for publication of reports where appropriate.