[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 19, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14845-14846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-5526]


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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES


 National Endowment for the Arts; Determination of the 
Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts as to Certain 
Advisory Committees: Public Disclosure of Information and Activities

    The National Endowment for the Arts utilizes advice and 
recommendations of advisory committees in carrying out many of its 
functions and activities.
    The Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (Pub. L. 92-463), 
governs the formation, use, conduct, management, and accessibility to 
the public of committees formed to advise and assist the Federal 
Government.

[[Page 14846]]

Section 10 of the Act specifies that department and agency heads shall 
make adequate provisions for participation by the public in the 
activities of advisory committees, except to the extent a determination 
is made in writing by the department or agency head that a portion of 
an advisory committee meeting may be closed to the public in accordance 
with subsection (c) of section 552b of Title 5, United States Code (the 
Government in the Sunshine Act).
    It is the policy of the National Endowment for the Arts to make the 
fullest possible disclosure of records to the public, limited only by 
obligations of confidentiality and administrative necessity. Consistent 
with this policy, meetings of the following Endowment advisory 
committees will be open to the public except for portions dealing with 
the review, discussion, evaluation, and/or ranking of grant 
applications: Arts Advisory Panel and the Federal Advisory Committee on 
International Exhibitions.
    The portions of the meetings involving the review, discussion, 
evaluation and ranking of grant applications may be closed to the 
public for the following reasons:
    The Endowment advisory committees listed above review and discuss 
applications for financial assistance. While the majority of 
applications received by the agency are submitted by organizations, all 
of the applications contain the names of and personal information 
relating to individuals who will be working on the proposed project. In 
reviewing the applications, committee members discuss the abilities of 
the listed individuals in their fields, the reputations of the listed 
individuals among their colleagues, the ability of the listed 
individuals to carry through on projects they start, and their 
background and performance. Consideration of these matters is essential 
to the review of the artistic excellence and artistic merit of an 
application.
    Consequently, in the interest of meeting our obligation to consider 
artistic excellence and artistic merit when reviewing applications for 
financial assistance:
    It is hereby determined in accordance with the provisions of 
section 10(d) of the Act that the disclosure of information regarding 
the review, discussion, evaluation, and ranking of applications for 
financial assistance as outlined herein is likely to disclose 
information of a personal nature the disclosure of which would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
    Therefore, in light of the above, I have determined that the above 
referenced meetings or portions thereof, devoted to review, discussion, 
evaluation, and/or ranking of applications for financial assistance may 
be closed to the public in accordance with subsection (c)(6) of section 
552b of Title 5, United States Code.
    The staff of each committee shall prepare a summary of any meeting 
or portion not open to the public within three (3) business days 
following the conclusion of the meeting of the National Council on the 
Arts considering applications recommended by such committees. The 
summaries shall be consistent with the considerations that justified 
the closing of the meetings.
    All other portions of the meetings of these advisory committees 
shall be open to the public unless the Chairperson of the National 
Endowment for the Arts or a designee determines otherwise in accordance 
with section 10(d) of the Act.
    The Panel Coordinator shall be responsible for publication in the 
Federal Register or, as appropriate, in local media, of a notice of all 
advisory committee meetings. Such notice shall be published in advance 
of the meetings and contain:
    1. Name of the committee and its purposes;
    2. Date and time of the meeting, and, if the meeting is open to the 
public, its location and agenda; and
    3. A statement that the meeting is open to the public, or, if the 
meeting or any portion thereof is not to be open to the public, a 
statement to that effect.
    The Panel Coordinator is designated as the person from whom lists 
of committee members may be obtained and from whom minutes of open 
meetings or open portions thereof may be requested.

Guidelines

    Any interested person may attend meetings of advisory committees 
that are open to the public.
    Members of the public attending a meeting will be permitted to 
participate in the committee's discussion at the discretion of the 
chairperson of the committee, if the chairperson is a full-time Federal 
employee; if the chairperson is not a full-time Federal employee then 
public participation will be permitted at the chairperson's discretion 
with the approval of the full-time Federal employee in attendance at 
the meeting in compliance with the order.

    Dated: February 28, 2008.
Dana Gioia,
Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts.
    Dated: March 14, 2008.
Kathy Plowitz-Worden,
Committee Management Officer.
 [FR Doc. E8-5526 Filed 3-18-08; 8:45 am]
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