(a) If an operator believes that any information required in the facility diagram specified pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 44342 involves the release of a trade secret, the operator shall nevertheless make the disclosure to the district, and shall notify the district in writing of that belief in the report.
(b) Subject to this section, the district shall protect from disclosure any trade secret designated as a trade secret by the operator, if that trade secret is not a public record.
(c) Upon receipt of a request for the release of information to the public that includes information that the operator has notified the district is a trade secret and that is not a public record, the following procedure applies:
(1) The district shall notify the operator of the request in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested.
(2) The district shall release the information to the public, but not earlier than 30 days after the date of mailing the notice of the request for information, unless, prior to the expiration of the 30-day period, the operator obtains an action in an appropriate court for a declaratory judgment that the information is subject to protection under this section or for a preliminary injunction prohibiting disclosure of the information to the public and promptly notifies the district of that action.
(d) This section does not permit an operator to refuse to disclose the information required pursuant to this part to the district.
(e) Any information determined by a court to be a trade secret, and not a public record pursuant to this section, shall not be disclosed to anyone except an officer or employee of the district, the state, or the United States, in connection with the official duties of that officer or employee under any law for the protection of health, or to contractors with the district or the state and its employees if, in the opinion of the district or the state, disclosure is necessary and required for the satisfactory performance of a contract, for performance of work, or to protect the health and safety of the employees of the contractor.
(f) Any officer or employee of the district or former officer or employee who, by virtue of that employment or official position, has possession of, or has access to, any trade secret subject to this section, and who, knowing that disclosure of the information to the general public is prohibited by this section, knowingly and willfully discloses the information in any manner to any person not entitled to receive it is guilty of a misdemeanor. Any contractor of the district and any employee of the contractor, who has been furnished information as authorized by this section, shall be considered an employee of the district for purposes of this section.
(g) Information certified by appropriate officials of the United States as necessary to be kept secret for national defense purposes shall be accorded the full protections against disclosure as specified by those officials or in accordance with the laws of the United States.
(h) As used in this section, “trade secret” and “public record” have the meanings and protections given to them by Sections 7924.510 and 7924.700 of the Government Code and Section 1060 of the Evidence Code. All information collected pursuant to this chapter, except for data used to calculate emissions data required in the facility diagram, shall be considered “air pollution emission data,” for the purposes of this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 615, Sec. 262. (AB 474) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 463 of Stats. 2021, Ch. 615.)