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Advisory Committees Free of ESG Act of 2023

H.R. 1506 · 118th Congress · Mar 9, 2023 · Lineage

A BILL

To amend section 1003 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Federal Advisory Committee Act), to prohibit the establishment of advisory committees related to environmental, social, and governance aspects.

Section 1 Short title

This Act may be cited as the “Advisory Committees Free of ESG Act of 2023”.

Sec. 2 Amendment to FACA

(a)
Amendment— Section 1003 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(d) An advisory committee may not be established on the basis of environmental, social, and governance aspects.

“(e) In this section:

“(1) The term environmental includes anything related to—

“(A) emissions of greenhouse gases, including—

“(i) carbon dioxide;

“(ii) methane;

“(iii) nitrous oxide;

“(iv) nitrogen trifluoride;

“(v) hydrofluorocarbons;

“(vi) perfluorocarbons; and

“(vii) sulfur hexafluoride;

“(B) climate change; and

“(C) environmental justice.

“(2) The term governance means how a private entity is run, including the structure and composition of the entity based on race, color, national origin, or sex and how compensation is made.

“(3) The term social includes anything related to—

“(A) race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic standards;

“(B) ideologies that oppose equal protection of the law or support discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex; and

“(C) critical race theory, social justice, or similar ideologies.”

(b)
Termination of existing advisory committees—
(1)
Termination by Administrator— If the Administrator finds that the head of an agency, chair of an advisory committee, or any advisory committee authorized, permitted, or implemented an advisory committee described in section 1003(d) of title 5, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), as of the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall immediately terminate that advisory committee.
(2)
Determination by inspector general— If the Inspector General for the agency that established the advisory committee finds that the head of an agency, chair of an advisory committee, or any advisory committee authorized, permitted, or implemented an advisory committee described in such section 1003(d), as of the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall immediately terminate that advisory committee.
(3)
Civil action—
(A)
In general— Any person may bring an action in an appropriate district court of the United States seeking a determination that an advisory committee was authorized, permitted, or implemented in violation of section 1003(d) of title 5, United States Code, or that an Administrator, the head of an agency, the chair of an advisory committee, or an advisory committee did not terminate an advisory committee that is in violation of such section. If the court, following an evidentiary hearing, determines that there was a violation of such section the court shall order the advisory committee to be terminated immediately.
(B)
Applicability— An action under subparagraph (A) may be brought with respect to any advisory committee beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(4)
Administrator defined— In this section the term Administrator means the Administrator of General Services.