NACCIH Charter

Authority

Required by 42 U.S.C. 287c-21(b), section 485D(b) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, as amended.  The National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health (Council) is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2).

Objectives and Scope of Activities

The Council will advise, assist, consult with, and make recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) and the Director, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH, also referred to as Center), on matters relating to the activities carried out by and through the Center and the policies respecting these activities and to the functions described under section 406 of the PHS Act, as amended. 

Description of Duties

The Council may recommend to the Secretary, in accordance with section 231 of the PHS Act, as amended, acceptance of conditional gifts for study, investigation, or research on complementary and integrative health treatment modalities, for the acquisition of grounds, or for the construction, equipping, or maintenance of facilities for the Center.

The Council may review applications for grants and cooperative agreements for research and training and recommend approval of applications for projects that show promise of making valuable contributions to human knowledge; may review any grant, contract, or cooperative agreement proposed to be made or entered into by the Center; may collect, by correspondence or by personal investigation, information as to studies that are being carried on in the United States or any other country as to the diseases, disorders, or other aspect of human health with respect to which the Center was established and, with the approval of the Director of NCCIH, make available such information through appropriate publications for the benefit of public and private health entities, health professions personnel and scientists, and for the information of the general public.

The Council will prepare triennial reports describing the manner in which the Institute has complied with section 492B of the PHS Act, which sets forth requirements addressing the inclusion of women and members of minority groups as subjects in clinical research conducted or supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Each report shall be submitted to the Director, NCCIH, for inclusion in the triennial report submitted to Congress by the Director, NIH, pursuant to section 403 of the PHS Act.  Each triennial report prepared by the Council shall include each of the following:

1. The number of women included as subjects, and the proportion of subjects that are women, in any project of clinical research conducted during the applicable reporting period, disaggregated by categories of research area, condition, or disease, and accounting for single-sex studies.
2. The number of members of minority groups included as subjects, and the proportion of subjects that are members of minority groups, in any project of clinical research conducted during the applicable reporting period, disaggregated by categories of research area, condition, or disease and accounting for single-race and single-ethnicity studies.
3. For the applicable reporting period, the number of projects of clinical research that include women and members of minority groups and that—(a) have been completed during such reporting period; and (b) are being carried out during such reporting period and have not been completed.
4. The number of studies completed during the applicable reporting period for which reporting has been submitted in accordance with section 492B(c)(2)(A) of the PHS Act.

The Council may prepare any additional reports as it determines appropriate. 

Agency or Official to Whom the Committee Reports

The Council will advise the Secretary and the Director, NCCIH.

Support

Management and support services will be provided by the Division of Extramural Activities, NCCIH.

Estimated Annual Operating Costs and Staff Years

The estimated annual cost for operating the Council, including compensation and travel expenses for members, but excluding staff support, is $53,068. The estimate of annual person-years of staff support required is 0.9 at an estimated annual cost of $210,429. 

Designated Federal Officer

The Director, NCCIH, will assign a full-time or permanent part-time NCCIH employee to serve as the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) of the Council. In the event the DFO cannot fulfill the assigned duties of the Council, one or more full-time or permanent part-time NCCIH employees will be assigned as DFO and carry out these duties on a temporary basis.

The DFO will approve all of the Council's and subcommittees' meetings, prepare and approve all meeting agendas, attend all Council and subcommittee meetings, adjourn any meeting when it is determined to be in the public interest, and chair meetings when directed to do so by the official to whom the committee reports. 

The Director, NICCIH, shall designate a member of the staff of the Center to serve as the Executive Secretary of the Council. The staff member assigned to serve as DFO will also be designated to serve as the Executive Secretary.

Estimated Number and Frequency Of Meetings

Meetings of the full Council will be held at the call of the Chair (with the DFO’s approval) or upon request of the Director, NCCIH, not less than 3 times within a fiscal year.  Meetings will be open to the public except as determined otherwise by the Secretary at the request of the DFO in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552b(c) and 41 C.F.R. 102-3.155 including specifying the specific exception(s) that justifies closure.  Notice of all meetings will be given to the public.  In the event a portion of a meeting is closed to the public, as determined by the Secretary, in accordance with the Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b(c)) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, an annual report of closed or partially-closed meetings will be prepared that will contain, as a minimum, a list of members and their business addresses, the Council's functions, dates and places of meetings, and a summary of the Council's activities and recommendations made during the fiscal year. 

Duration

Continuing.

Termination

Unless renewed by appropriate action, prior to its expiration, the charter for the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health will expire two years from the date the charter is filed.

Membership and Designation

The Council will consist of 18 members appointed by the Secretary and at least 5 nonvoting ex officio members. The nonvoting ex officio members will include the Secretary; the Director, NIH; the Director, NCCIH; the Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs; the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (or their designees); and any additional officers or employees of the United States as the Secretary determines necessary for the Council to effectively carry out its functions.  Of the 18 appointed members, 12 will be selected from among the leading representatives of the health and scientific disciplines (including not less than 2 individuals who are leaders in the fields of public health and the behavioral or social sciences) relevant to the activities of the NCCIH, particularly representatives of the health and scientific disciplines in the areas of complementary and integrative health. Nine of these 12 members will be practitioners licensed in one or more of the major systems with which the Center is involved.  Of the 18 appointed members, the other 6 will be appointed by the Secretary from the general public and will include leaders in the fields of public policy, law, health policy, economics, and management.  Three of the 18 appointed members will also represent the interests of individual consumers of complementary and integrative health.  Appointed members must be eligible to serve as Special Government Employees (SGEs) and will serve as SGEs, as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 202.  A quorum for the conduct of business by the full Council will consist of a majority of currently appointed members.

Appointed members will be invited to serve for overlapping four-year terms, except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term will be appointed for the remainder of that term.  The Secretary shall make appointments in such a manner as to ensure that the terms of the appointed members do not all expire in the same year.  An appointed member may serve 180 days after the expiration of that member's term if a successor has not taken office.  A member who has been appointed for a term of four years may not be reappointed to this Council before two years from the date of expiration of that member's term of office.

The Chair of the Council shall be selected by the Secretary from among the appointed members, except that the Secretary may select the Director, NCCIH, to be the Chair.  The term of office of the Chair shall be two years.

Subcommittees

As necessary, subcommittees and ad hoc working groups may be established by the DFO within the Council's jurisdiction.  The advice/recommendations of a subcommittee/working group must be deliberated by the parent advisory committee.  A subcommittee/working group may not report directly to a Federal official unless there is statutory authority to do so.

Subcommittee membership may be drawn in whole or in part from the parent advisory committee.  All subcommittee members may vote on subcommittee actions and all subcommittee members count toward the quorum for a subcommittee meeting.  A quorum for a subcommittee will be three members.  Ad hoc consultants are not members, do not count toward the quorum, and may not vote.  The Department Committee Management Officer will be notified upon establishment of each standing subcommittee and will be provided information on its name, membership, function, and estimated frequency of meetings.

Recordkeeping

Meetings of the Council and its subcommittees will be conducted according to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, other applicable laws and Departmental policies. Council and subcommittee records will be handled in accordance with General Records Schedule 6.2, Federal Advisory Committee Records, or other approved agency records disposition schedule.  These records will be available for public inspection and copying, subject to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552(b) and 41 C.F.R. 102-3.170.

Filing Date

January 28, 2023

Approved

January 17, 2023
Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S, Ph.D., Acting NIH Director