The role of the Office of Cooperative Environmental Management, OCEM,
is to provide timely and well-researched guidance to the EPA Administrator
and other senior Agency decision-makers through management of the Federal
Advisory Committee process. EPA's Advisory committees bring the concerned
public into a productive, information-gathering process to assist in
the development of national and international environmental policies.
OCEM provides efficient operation and oversight of the committees
authorized under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, FACA. With operational
oversight over four committees and strategic oversight over 24 FACA
committees, the public benefits from an open and on-going exchange
of information.
Those individuals who participate on Federal Advisory Committees are
experts in the environmental, sociological and technological sciences.
From business owners, to public health officials, to ecologists, all
are stakeholders in the issues they address. Approximately 1,400 stakeholders
are currently sitting on advisory boards.