41 C.F.R. § 105-54.102 – Definitions.

(a) The term “advisory committee” means any committee, board, commission, council, conference, panel, task force, or other similar group or any subcommittee thereof that is:
1. (1) Established by statute,
2. (2) Established or utilized by the President, or
3. (3) Established or utilized by any agency official to obtain advice or recommendations that are within the scope of his/her responsibilies.
  The term “advisory committee” excludes the Advisory Committee on Intergovernmental Relations and any committees composed wholly of full-time officers or employees of the Federal Government.
(b) “Presidential advisory committee” means any committee that advises the President. It may be established by the President or by the Congress, or may be used by the President to obtain advice or recommendations.
(c) “Independent Presidential advisory committee” means any Presidential advisory committee not assigned by the President, or the President's delegate, or by the Congress in law, to an agency for administrative and other support and for which the Administrator of General Services may provide administrative and other support on a reimbursable basis.
(d) “Committee member” means an individual who serves by appointment on a committee and has the full right and obligation to participate in the activities of the committee, including voting on committee recommendations.
(e) “Staff member” means any individual who serves in a support capacity to an advisory committee.
(f) “Secretariat” means the General Services Administration's Committee Management Secretariat. Established pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, it is responsible for all matters relating to advisory committees, and carries out the Administrator's responsibilities under the Act and Executive Order 12024.
(g) “Utilized” (or used), as stated in the definition of “advisory committee” above, refers to a situation in which a GSA official adopts a committee or other group composed in whole or in part of other than full-time Federal officers or employees with an established existence outside GSA as a preferred source from which to obtain advice or recommendations on a specific issue or policy within the scope of his/her responsibilities in the same manner as that official would obtain advice or recommendations from an established advisory committee.