Title 22
SECTION 171.12
171.12 Business information.
§ 171.12 Business information.(a) Definitions. The following definitions apply for purposes of this section:
(1) Business information means commercial or financial or proprietary intellectual information obtained by the Department from a submitter that may be exempt from disclosure as privileged or confidential under Exemption 4 of the FOIA.
(2) Submitter means any person or entity from which the Department obtains business information, directly or indirectly. The term includes corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships; state, local, and tribal governments; foreign governments, NGOs and educational institutions.
(b) Designation of business information. A submitter of information must use good-faith efforts to designate, by appropriate markings, either at the time of submission or at a reasonable time thereafter, any portions of its submission that it considers exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 4. These designations will expire ten years after the date of the submission unless the submitter requests, and provides justification for, a longer designation period.
(c) Notice to submitters. The Department shall provide a submitter with prompt written notice of a FOIA request that seeks its business information, or of an administrative appeal of a denial of such a request, whenever required under paragraph (d) of this section, except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, in order to give the submitter an opportunity to object to disclosure of any specified portion of that information under paragraph (f) of this section. The notice shall either describe the information requested or include copies of the requested records or record portions containing the business information.
(d) When notice is required. Notice shall be given to a submitter whenever:
(1) The information has been designated in good faith by the submitter as information considered exempt from disclosure under Exemption 4; or
(2) The Department has reason to believe that the information may be exempt from disclosure under Exemption 4, but has not yet determined whether the information is protected from disclosure under that exemption or any other applicable exemption.
(e) When notice is not required. The notice requirements of paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section shall not apply if:
(1) The Department determines that the information is exempt from disclosure;
(2) The information lawfully has been published or has been officially made available to the public;
(3) Disclosure of the information is required by statute (other than the FOIA) or by a regulation issued in accordance with the requirements of Executive Order 12600; or
(4) The designation made by the submitter under paragraph (b) of this section appears obviously frivolous, except that, in such a case, the Department shall, within a reasonable time prior to a specified disclosure date, give the submitter written notice of any final decision to disclose the information.
(f) Opportunity to object to disclosure. The Department will allow a submitter a reasonable time to respond to the notice described in paragraph (c) of this section and will specify that time period in the notice. If a submitter has any objections to disclosure, it should provide the component a detailed written statement that specifies all grounds for withholding the particular information under any exemption of the FOIA. In order to rely on Exemption 4 as basis for nondisclosure, the submitter must explain why the information constitutes a trade secret or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential. In the event that a submitter fails to respond to the notice within the time specified in it, the submitter will be considered to have no objection to disclosure of the information. Information provided by a submitter under this paragraph may itself be subject to disclosure under the FOIA.
(g) Notice of intent to disclose. The Department shall consider a submitter's objections and specific grounds for nondisclosure in deciding whether to disclose business information. Whenever the Department decides to disclose business information over the objection of a submitter, it shall give the submitter written notice, which shall include:
(1) A statement of the reason(s) why each of the submitter's disclosure objections was not sustained;
(2) A description of the business information to be disclosed; and
(3) A specified disclosure date, which shall be a reasonable time subsequent to the notice.
(h) Notice of lawsuit. Whenever a requester files a lawsuit seeking to compel the disclosure of business information, the Department shall promptly notify the submitter.
(i) Notice to requester. Whenever the Department provides a submitter with notice and an opportunity to object to disclosure under paragraph (f) of this section, the Department shall also notify the requester. Whenever the Department notifies a submitter of its intent to disclose requested business information under paragraph (g) of this section, the Department shall also notify the requester. Whenever a submitter files a lawsuit seeking to prevent the disclosure of business information, the Department shall notify the requester.