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Governmental Advisory Committee Bylaws

BYLAWS OF THE GOVERNMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TO THE COMMISSION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION

ARTICLE I - NAME

The name of the organization shall be the Governmental Advisory Committee to the U.S. Representative to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation.

ARTICLE II - AUTHORITY

The Governmental Advisory Committee (hereinafter GAC) to the U.S. Representative to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is established within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Administrator's Office, Office of Cooperative Environmental Management (OCEM), under a charter approved by the Administrator and by the U. S. General Services Administration. GAC advises the Administrator of EPA as the U.S. Representative to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation consistent with its current approved charter and the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

ARTICLE III - MISSION AND SCOPE

The Committee is authorized under Article 18 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, P.L. 103-182 and is directed by Executive Order 12915, entitled "Federal Implementation of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation".

The Committee is responsible for providing advice to the U.S. Representative on implementation and further elaboration of the NAAEC.

ARTICLE IV - MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. Representation of Sectors

Section 2: Participant Categories, Appointment Process, and Terms

  1. Committee Members
    Committee Members shall be volunteer officials who have full voting rights in all committee actions.
    Committee Members are appointed by the EPA Administrator for a term of two years. A Committee Member may be reappointed.
    A Committee Member may serve as a member of any subgroup formed under GAC auspices.
  2. Committee Advisors
    Committee Advisors shall be volunteer officials named to serve on a specific subcommittee or other group formed under GAC auspices. Advisors shall be full participants in the group's deliberations and have voting rights at the subcommittee level. Advisors are appointed by the EPA Administrator, in consultation with the Designated Federal Officer and the Committee Chair. The term of an Advisor shall be set in accordance with the needs of the Committee and conveyed to the Advisor at the time of appointment. Advisors may be reappointed as deemed appropriate.
  3. Expert Witnesses and Consultants
    Expert witnesses and consultants provide specialized information or assistance to GAC. Experts and consultants have no voting rights. Expert witnesses and consultants may be invited by the Committee Chair, in consultation with the Designated Federal Officer.

Section 3. Termination of Membership

  1. The Chair will notify the U.S. Representative to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (i.e., the EPA Administrator) in writing if a Member misses two consecutive meetings of the Committee. The Chair may recommend termination of a Member's appointment to the U.S. Representative if a Member misses two consecutive meetings of the Committee.
  2. A Committee Member who changes his or her professional affiliation may be removed by the EPA Administrator in order to maintain balance among sectors of membership.
  3. A Committee Member may be removed for cause, as determined by the EPA Administrator, when he or she is determined to have violated the Ethics in Government Act, or when his or her continued participation would reflect unfavorably on the overall actions of the Committee.
  4. A Committee Member may be removed by the EPA Administrator for disclosing a negotiating document, or specific language contained within it provided to the Committee, under a Confidentiality Agreement.
  5. A Committee Member may be removed by the EPA Administrator, in consultation with the Committee Chair and the Designated Federal Officer, for the reasons stated above or in accordance with operating guidelines established for the Committee.
  6. A Member may be removed for other reasons the Administrator deems appropriate.

ARTICLE V - COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION

Section 1. Committee Structure

  1. Subgroups may be established to consider specific matters and must report back to the full Committee.
  2. The number, designation, mission, scope, and membership of subgroups will be subject to agreement between the Chair and the Designated Federal Officer.

Section 2: Officers

  1. a) Committee Chair
    The Committee shall have a Chair appointed by the Administrator from the membership, in consultation with the Designated Federal Officer.
    The Committee Chair, in consultation with the Designated Federal Officer, shall be responsible for overall planning for the Committee and for coordinating activity among subcommittees.
    The Chair shall be empowered to act for the Committee between meetings.
  2. Committee Vice Chair
    The Committee may have a Vice Chair appointed by the EPA Administrator from the membership, in consultation with the Committee Chair and Designated Federal Officer. The Vice Chair shall serve in the absence of the Chair and shall undertake ongoing responsibilities as determined by the Committee Chair and Designated Federal Officer.
  3. Subgroup Chairs
    Each formally designated subgroup shall have a Chair from the Committee membership, appointed in consultation with the Committee Chair and the Designated Federal Officer. Each Subgroup Chair shall serve a term as appropriate to the work of the subgroup.
  4. Designated Federal Officers
    The Committee and any subgroup shall have a Designated Federal Officer (DFO) who will be present at all meetings and is authorized to adjourn any meeting when it is determined to be in the public interest. The Committee or subgroups may not conduct any meetings in the absence of the DFO or his/her designee. Committee meetings will be called, announced and held in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The DFO shall be assigned from the EPA Office of Cooperative Environmental Management.

ARTICLE VI - MEETINGS

Section 1. Compliance with FACA

  1. GAC and any subgroups formed under GAC auspices will operate in accordance with all requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Such requirements include, but are not limited to: publishing notice of meetings in the Federal Register, holding open meetings, and taking and distributing minutes of meetings.
  2. Subgroups that do not function independently of the Committee are subject to all FACA requirements (except separate chartering) unless exempt from such requirements under GSA Rule (41 CFR Sec 101-6.1004(k)).
  3. Subgroups may conduct meetings that are not noticed in the Federal Register or open to the public if they are conducted solely for the purposes of gathering information, conducting research, analyzing relevant issues or facts, or drafting position papers for deliberation by the Committee in a public meeting. Members may also conduct public briefing or information-gathering meetings in their locales. Voluntary noticing of such meetings in the Federal Register must be agreed to by the Designated Federal Officer.

Section 2. Meeting Scheduling

  1. a) The full Committee shall meet in plenary session at least twice annually.
  2. b) Subgroups formed under GAC auspices shall meet as needed at the call of the Committee Chair and the Designated Federal Officer.

Section 3. Quorum

ARTICLE VII - REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Section 1. Committee Reports and Recommendations

  1. A consensus agreement or majority vote of the Members of the Committee shall be sufficient for forwarding a recommendation to the U.S. Representative. Voting may take place as needed in a Committee meeting by voice vote or by mail in writing. If a vote is taken at a meeting, a majority of Members present shall be considered a quorum.
  2. A report and/or recommendation shall be accepted for formal review and approved by the full Committee if it was approved by a majority vote of a subgroup formed under GAC auspices, in accordance with Article VII. Section 1.
  3. Each report or recommendation shall be distributed to all Committee Members for review for a maximum of 30 calendar days. A Committee Member shall be assumed to approve the recommendation(s) if no comment is received by the close of the 30-day period.
  4. Final Committee action on a proposed recommendation shall be completed within a maximum of 60 calendar days from the date the proposed report or recommendation was sent to the full Committee for review.
  5. The Committee Chair shall transmit an approved Committee Report or Recommendation directly to the U.S. Representative if a majority of all Committee Members approves within 30 working days. Significant minority views may be transmitted with an approved recommendation at the option of the Chair.

Section 3. Availability of Reports

ARTICLE VIII - CONFIDENTIALITY

At such times as the U.S. Representative to the CEC requests advice from the Committee with respect to issues and related documents currently under negotiation among the three Parties, the following procedures will be used to protect such documents from unauthorized premature public disclosure:

  1. EPA will provide a copy of draft negotiating documents to each member of a work group composed of a subset of the membership of the Committee; the total number of work group members may not include a majority of members of the Committee.
  2. Each work group member must sign a confidentiality agreement in advance of reviewing the materials.
  3. Work group members may review the materials only in a face-to-face working group session separate from a meeting of the full Committee. Work group meetings will not be noticed in the Federal Register or otherwise involve members of the general public. Materials will be collected following each work group meeting and may not be copied.
  4. Work group members will review the materials and prepare a report and recommendations for discussion with the full Committee membership. Notes taken by members and the work group report may not quote or otherwise cite the actual text of the negotiating documents. Negotiating documents may not be quoted and will not be available during a regular public meeting of the Committee.
  5. The work group report and draft recommendations must be discussed in an open regular Committee meeting and any recommendations must be agreed to by the full Committee prior to transmittal to the U.S. Representative.

ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS

The Bylaws of the Committee may be added to, amended, or repealed in whole or in part by vote of at least two-thirds of the Committee Members at any regular meeting or by a vote in writing taken by mail, provided that notice of intention to do so shall have been given to each Member at least 30 days preceding the vote.

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