(a) Consultation with the Secretariat. To establish, renew, reestablish, or merge a discretionary advisory committee, the agency head must first consult with the Secretariat and, as part of the consultation, provide a written public interest determination approved by the head of the agency to the Secretariat documenting that the establishment, renewal, reestablishment, or merger of the committee is essential to the conduct of agency business and that the information to be obtained is not already available through another advisory committee or source within the Federal Government. At a minimum, the following factors should be addressed in the written public interest determination provided to the Secretariat (with a copy to OMB) to demonstrate that establishing the committee is in the public interest:

1. (1) Annual budget and expected costs broken into:

   1. (i) Federal personnel (based on full-time equivalent (FTE) usage basis) and other Federal internal costs;
   2. (ii) Proposed payments to members and number of members; and
   3. (iii) Reimbursable costs;
2. (2) If applicable, the total dollar value of grants expected to be recommended during the fiscal year;
3. (3) Criteria for selecting members to ensure the committee has the necessary expertise and fairly balanced membership;
4. (4) List of all other Federal advisory committees of the agency;
5. (5) Justification that the information or advice provided by the Federal advisory committee is not available from another Federal advisory committee, another Federal Government source or any other more cost-effective and less burdensome source; and
6. (6) If the justification relates to a renewal, a summary of the previous accomplishments of the committee and the reasons it needs to continue.

(b) Agency considerations for fairly balanced membership. To comply with the Act's requirement for fairly balanced membership, during the Federal advisory committee member recruitment process agencies should consider the following:

1. (1) The points of view required. During the formation of the advisory committee membership and as membership vacancies occur, agencies should ensure that they fully consider and understand the potential implications or anticipated impacts of the advisory committee's potential recommendations. This includes consideration of the groups and entities potentially affected or interested in such recommendations, as appropriate based on the nature and functions of the advisory committee, so that the agency can make informed decisions on the areas of expertise or perspectives that would advance the work of the advisory committee. Advisory committees requiring technical expertise should include persons with demonstrated professional or personal qualifications and experience relevant to the functions and tasks to be performed by the committee.
2. (2) Outreach. Having identified the points of view that would promote a fairly balanced advisory committee membership, agencies should conduct broad outreach.