Advertising Contract of the National Commission on Air Quality With the World Wide Agency, Inc.

The National Commission on Air Quality requested a determination of the applicability of certain statutory restrictions on advertising to the Commission. The Commission was established to study and report to Congress on issues related to economic, technological, legal, and environmental implications of clean air programs. Law prohibits publication of advertisement notices or proposals for an executive department of the Government or for a bureau or office connected with it without the written authorization of the department head. However, the Commission was determined to be a legislative branch agency, since its reporting and advisory responsibilities are only to Congress and it has no regulatory or executive powers. The statutory restrictions on advertising specifically apply only to an executive department and are not applicable to the Commission. Therefore, no advance written authorization for the procurement of advertising services was required and the payment for such services may be made without presentation of such written authorization.