SECTION 335.480. Confidentiality

(a) A pollution prevention plan shall be maintained at each facility owned or operated by a person and/or generator who is subject to this subchapter and shall be available to agency personnel for inspection. The pollution prevention plan is not a public record for the purposes of Chapter 424, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, 1973 (Texas Civil Statues, Article 6252-17a).

(b) The executive summary of the plan and the annual progress report are public records. On request, the person and/or generator shall make available to the public a copy of the executive summary of the plan or annual progress report.

(c) If an owner or operator of a facility for which a pollution prevention plan has been prepared shows to the satisfaction of the executive director that an executive summary of the plan, annual progress report, or portion of a summary or report prepared under this subchapter would divulge a trade secret if made public, the executive director shall classify as confidential the summary, report, or portion of the summary or report.

(d) To the extent that a plan, executive summary, annual progress report, or portion of a plan, summary, or annual progress report would otherwise qualify as a trade secret, an action by the agency does not affect its status as a trade secret.

(e) Information classified by the executive director as confidential under this section is not a public record for purposes of Chapter 424, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, 1973 (Texas Civil Statutes, Article 6252-17a), and may not be used in a public hearing or disclosed to a person outside the agency unless a court decides that the information is necessary for the determination of an issue being decided at the public hearing.

Source Note: The provisions of this §335.480 adopted to be effective January 3, 1992, 16 TexReg 7532; amended to be effective November 15, 2001, 26 TexReg 9135; amended to be effective January 30, 2003, 28 TexReg 735