A bipartisan pair of senators last week introduced a bill to tighten ethics and transparency requirements for members of federal advisory committees: expert groups that advise federal agencies including the Department of Energy.
The bill from Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) would require, among other things, that agencies creating and maintaining such committees openly nominate members and solicit public input on the nominations. The bill also would bar “political litmus tests” for membership, unless Congress explicitly requires boards to have a certain political balance.
There are roughly 20 federal advisory committees that deal with Department of Energy issues, fewer than half of which provide advice for nuclear programs.
Notable among these are:
- The Defense Programs Advisory Committee that provides classified advice about the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear weapons and nonproliferation programs.
- The Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board that collects input from city, state, local, and tribal stakeholders near former nuclear-weapons sites being cleaned up by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.
- The Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee that provides advice to DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy: the branch of the agency responsible for management of the civilian nuclear waste created by commercial power plants.
The Portman-Hassan bill would also make the secretary of Energy personally responsible for ensuring “that the agency does not interfere with the free and independent participation, expression of views, and deliberation” by members of any DOE federal advisory committees.
The bill has been referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Congress is out of town for its annual spring recess and is not scheduled to return to Washington until April 29.
