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Recommendations Database

GAO’s recommendations database contains report recommendations that still need to be addressed. GAO’s priority recommendations are those that we believe warrant priority attention. We sent letters to the heads of key departments and agencies, urging them to continue focusing on these issues. Below you can search only priority recommendations, or search all recommendations.

Our recommendations help congressional and agency leaders prepare for appropriations and oversight activities, as well as help improve government operations. Moreover, when implemented, some of our priority recommendations can save large amounts of money, help Congress make decisions on major issues, and substantially improve or transform major government programs or agencies, among other benefits.

As of October 25, 2020, there are 4812 open recommendations, of which 473 are priority recommendations. Recommendations remain open until they are designated as Closed-implemented or Closed-not implemented.

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Results:

Subject Term: "Advisory committees"

4 publications with a total of 14 open recommendations
Download these results in CSV format or XLSX format.
Federal Advisory Committees: Actions Needed to Enhance Decision-Making Transparency and Cost Data Accuracy
GAO-20-575, Sep 10, 2020
Director: Michelle Sager
Phone: (202) 512-6806

10 open recommendations
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Recommendation: The Commissioner of the FDA should ensure that PAC renews its charter. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Food and Drug Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should require ETAAC and IRSAC to make decisions on proposed recommendations to IRS during open meetings. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Commissioner of Internal Revenue should require ETAAC and IRSAC to compile meeting minutes and make them publicly available. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of the Treasury: Internal Revenue Service
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Director of the Census Bureau should require CSAC to compile meeting minutes and make them publicly available. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Department of Commerce: Bureau of the Census
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Secretary of the Treasury should require FACA committees under Treasury's purview to provide access to meeting agendas and supporting documents on the committees' websites. (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Treasury
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Director of NIH should establish and implement a policy requiring all FACA committees under NIH's jurisdiction to post meeting minutes online. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Public Health Service: National Institutes of Health
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should encourage FACA committees to make information on agencies' responses to and implementation of specific recommendations publicly available online, unless exempted from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: General Services Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should require agencies to develop and implement written policies or procedures to identify, calculate, and fully document FACA committee costs, and ensure agency staff enter accurate and complete cost data into the FACA database. (Recommendation 8)

Agency: General Services Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: The Administrator of GSA should direct the Committee Management Secretariat to require FACA committees to specify the exact date when they last updated cost data in the FACA database. This could be completed in a field in the database under the "Committee Cost" section or in another relevant data field. (Recommendation 9)

Agency: General Services Administration
Status: Open

Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: Congress should consider amending FACA to require agencies and advisory committees to make available online documents FACA already requires to be made available for public inspection and copying. (Matter for Consideration 1)

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: When we determine what steps the Congress has taken, we will provide updated information.
EPA Advisory Committees: Improvements Needed for the Member Appointment Process
GAO-19-280, Jul 8, 2019
Director: J. Alfredo Gomez
Phone: (202) 512-3841

2 open recommendations
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Recommendation: The EPA Administrator should direct EPA officials responsible for appointing advisory committee members to follow a key step in its appointment process—developing and including draft membership grids in appointment packets with staff rationales for proposed membership—for all committees. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: In September 2019, EPA restated its reasons for disagreeing with this recommendation. (EPA's rationale for disagreeing was originally stated in a June 2019 letter included in an appendix in our report.) We will provide updated information regarding this recommendation when it becomes available.
Recommendation: EPA's Designated Agency Ethics Official should direct EPA's Ethics Office, as part of its periodic review of EPA's ethics program, to evaluate—for example, through audits or spot-checks—the quality of financial disclosure reviews for special government employees appointed to EPA advisory committees. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: In August 2019, EPA notified GAO that it expects to launch an electronic financial disclosure reporting system for special government employees in January 2021. Once financial disclosure forms for these individuals are available electronically, EPA's Ethics Office will be better positioned to audit or review the forms, according to EPA officials. In addition, the electronic filing system should minimize errors (e.g. failing to record the date that the form was received) made by filers and reviewers, according to EPA officials.
National Institutes of Health: Better Oversight Needed to Help Ensure Continued Progress Including Women in Health Research
GAO-16-13, Oct 22, 2015
Director: Linda Kohn
Phone: (202) 512-7114

1 open recommendations
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Recommendation: To ensure effective implementation of the Inclusion Policy in a manner consistent with the Revitalization Act's provisions regarding the design of certain clinical trials, the NIH Director should report on this summary data and the results of this analysis in NIH's regular biennial report to Congress on the inclusion of women in research.

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services: Public Health Service: National Institutes of Health
Status: Open

Comments: In August 2020, NIH reported that summary data as described in our Recommendation 4--that is, data and analysis on awardees' plans to conduct valid analysis by sex/gender--will be included in the 2019-2020 version of this publication, which the agency expects will be published in October 2021. We will continue to monitor NIH's actions on this matter.
Environmental Health: High-level Strategy and Leadership Needed to Continue Progress toward Protecting Children from Environmental Threats
GAO-10-205, Jan 28, 2010
Director: Stephenson, John B
Phone: (202)512-6225

1 open recommendations
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Recommendation: Because EPA alone cannot address the complexities of the nation's challenges in addressing environmental health risks for children, Congress may wish to consider re-establishing a government-wide task force on children's environmental health risks, similar to the one previously established by Executive Order 13045 and co-chaired by the Administrator of EPA and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Congress may wish to consider charging it with identifying the principal environmental health threats to children and developing national strategies for addressing them. Congress may also wish to consider establishing in law the Executive Order's requirement for periodic reports about federal research findings and research needs regarding children's environmental health.

Agency: Congress
Status: Open

Comments: As of March 2020, we have not identified actions by the Congress to establish in law requirements such as those in Executive Order 13045.