Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a)
In addition to the prohibitions on disclosure described in section
550.5(d)
of this Part, the records access officer may deny access to records or portions
thereof that are trade secrets or are submitted to an agency by a commercial
enterprise or derived from information obtained from a commercial enterprise
and which, if disclosed, would cause substantial injury to the competitive
position of the subject enterprise.
(1) Any
person who submits information to the office, which is not otherwise exempted
from disclosure under the laws of the State of New York or the United States,
may request that the records access officer except such information from
disclosure as a trade secret pursuant to sections 87(2)(d) and 89(5) of the
Freedom of Information Law. Where the request itself contains information
which, if disclosed, would defeat the purpose for which the exception is
sought, such information will also be excepted from disclosure.
(2) The request to the records access officer
for an exception must be in writing, specify the information or portions
thereof for which the exception is requested, and state the reasons why such
information should be excepted from disclosure.
(3) Records or parts of records identified as
trade secrets at submission shall continue to be charged to the custody of the
head of the division, bureau or office with which the record is filed. That
individual shall specify which persons subject to his or her supervision may
inspect such records. The executive deputy commissioner, the records access
officer, the records appeals officer and his or her assistant or assistants
shall be entitled to inspect such records.
(b) The records access officer shall, at any
time, or upon receipt of a request for disclosure of such a record, determine
whether the request for exception will be granted, continued, terminated or
denied. Before doing so, such officer shall:
(1) notify the person who requested the
exception that a determination is to be made, and of such person's right to
submit a written statement within 10 business days of receipt of the notice,
regarding the necessity for granting or continuing the exemption from
disclosure;
(2) permit the person
who requested the exception, within 10 business days of receipt of notification
from the department, to submit a written statement of the necessity for the
granting or continuation of such exception; and
(3) within seven business days of receipt of
such written statement, or within seven business days of the expiration of the
period prescribed for submission of such statement, issue a written
determination granting, continuing or terminating such exception and stating
the reasons therefor; copies of such determination shall be served upon the
person, if any, requesting the record, the person who requested the exception,
and the Committee on Open Government.
(c) A denial of an exception from disclosure
under subdivision (b) of this section may be appealed by the person submitting
the information, and a denial of access to the record may be appealed by the
person requesting the record in accordance with the procedure outlined in
section
550.8
of this Part.
