An Executive Order (EO) issued by President Trump on June 14, 2019, would require all federal agencies and departments to evaluate the need for their current advisory committees established under Section 9(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). 
 

Entitled “Executive Order on Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees,” the EO also would require each federal agency to terminate at least one-third of its current committees by September 30, 2019.  The EO targets committees:

• That have accomplished their stated objectives;
   
• Where the subject matter or work of the committee has become obsolete;
   
• Where the primary functions of the committee have been assumed by another entity; or
   
• Where the agency determines that the cost of the operation of the committee is excessive in relation to the benefits to the federal government. 

The EO allows agencies to count committees terminated since January 20, 2017, toward the one-third goal.
 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has 22 FACA committees and thus must terminate at least seven of them under the terms of the EO.  EPA’s FACA committees (and associated EPA offices) are:

• Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (Office of the Administrator/Office of Children’s Health Protection);
   
• Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (Office of Air and Radiation);
   
• Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (Office of the Administrator/Office of Science Advisory Board);
   
• Environmental Financial Advisory Board (Office of Water);
   
• Environmental Laboratory Advisory Board (Office of Research and Development);
   
• Board of Scientific Counselors (Office of Research and Development);
   
• Science Advisory Board (Office of the Administrator/Office of the Science Advisor);
   
• Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Advisory Committee (Office of the Administrator);
   
• Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP));
   
• Good Neighbor Environmental Board (Office of Administration and Resources Management);
   
• Governmental Advisory Committee to the United States Representative to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (Office of Administration and Resources Management);
   
• Great Lakes Advisory Board (Office of the Regional Administrator, Region 5);
   
• Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board (Office of Land and Emergency Management);
   
• Human Studies Review Board (Office of Research and Development/Office of the Science Advisory);
   
• Local Government Advisory Committee (Office of the Administrator/Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations);
   
• National Advisory Committee to the United States Representative to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (Office of Administration and Resources Management);
   
• National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (Office of Administration and Resources Management);
   
• National Drinking Water Advisory Council (Office of Water);
   
• National Environmental Education Advisory Council (Office of the Administrator/Office of External Affairs and Environmental Education);
   
• National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance);
   
• Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (OCSPP); and
   
• Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (OCSPP).