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H0148...............................................by AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS
AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT - LABORATORY TESTS- Amends existing law relating to
records exempt from disclosure to provide that certain results of
laboratory tests conducted by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture are
exempt from disclosure.
02/09 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/12 Rpt prt - to St Aff
02/15 Rpt out - Ref'd to Agric Aff
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-ninth Legislature First Regular Session - 2007
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 148
BY AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO RECORDS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE; AMENDING SECTION 9-340D, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN RESULTS OF LABORATORY TESTS CONDUCTED BY THE
4 IDAHO STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ARE EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE.
5 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
6 SECTION 1. That Section 9-340D, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
7 amended to read as follows:
8 9-340D. RECORDS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE -- TRADE SECRETS, PRODUCTION
9 RECORDS, APPRAISALS, BIDS, PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. The following records are
10 exempt from disclosure:
11 (1) Trade secrets including those contained in response to public agency
12 or independent public body corporate and politic requests for proposal,
13 requests for clarification, requests for information and similar requests.
14 "Trade secrets" as used in this section means information, including a for-
15 mula, pattern, compilation, program, computer program, device, method, tech-
16 nique, process, or unpublished or in progress research that:
17 (a) Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not
18 being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper
19 means by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure
20 or use; and
21 (b) Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances
22 to maintain its secrecy.
23 (2) Production records, housing production, rental and financing records,
24 sale or purchase records, catch records, mortgage portfolio loan documents, or
25 similar business records of a private concern or enterprise required by law to
26 be submitted to or inspected by a public agency or submitted to or otherwise
27 obtained by an independent public body corporate and politic. Nothing in this
28 subsection shall limit the use which can be made of such information for regu-
29 latory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
30 (3) Records relating to the appraisal of real property, timber or mineral
31 rights prior to its acquisition, sale or lease by a public agency or indepen-
32 dent public body corporate and politic.
33 (4) Any estimate prepared by a public agency or independent public body
34 corporate and politic that details the cost of a public project until such
35 time as disclosed or bids are opened, or upon award of the contract for con-
36 struction of the public project.
37 (5) Examination, operating or condition reports and all documents relat-
38 ing thereto, prepared by or supplied to any public agency or independent pub-
39 lic body corporate and politic responsible for the regulation or supervision
40 of financial institutions including, but not limited to, banks, savings and
41 loan associations, regulated lenders, business and industrial development cor-
42 porations, credit unions, and insurance companies, or for the regulation or
43 supervision of the issuance of securities.
2
1 (6) Records gathered by a local agency or the Idaho department of com-
2 merce, as described in chapter 47, title 67, Idaho Code, for the specific pur-
3 pose of assisting a person to locate, maintain, invest in, or expand business
4 operations in the state of Idaho.
5 (7) Shipping and marketing records of commodity commissions used to eval-
6 uate marketing and advertising strategies and the names and addresses of grow-
7 ers and shippers maintained by commodity commissions.
8 (8) Financial statements and business information and reports submitted
9 by a legal entity to a port district organized under title 70, Idaho Code, in
10 connection with a business agreement, or with a development proposal or with a
11 financing application for any industrial, manufacturing, or other business
12 activity within a port district.
13 (9) Names and addresses of seed companies, seed crop growers, seed crop
14 consignees, locations of seed crop fields, variety name and acreage by vari-
15 ety. Upon the request of the owner of the proprietary variety, this informa-
16 tion shall be released to the owner. Provided however, that if a seed crop has
17 been identified as diseased or has been otherwise identified by the Idaho
18 department of agriculture, other state departments of agriculture, or the
19 United States department of agriculture to represent a threat to that particu-
20 lar seed or commercial crop industry or to individual growers, information as
21 to test results, location, acreage involved and disease symptoms of that par-
22 ticular seed crop, for that growing season, shall be available for public
23 inspection and copying. This exemption shall not supersede the provisions of
24 section 22-436, Idaho Code.
25 (10) Information obtained from books, records and accounts required in
26 chapter 47, title 22, Idaho Code, to be maintained by the Idaho canola and
27 rapeseed commission and pertaining to the individual production records of ca-
28 nola or rapeseed growers.
29 (11) Records of any risk retention or self-insurance program prepared in
30 anticipation of litigation or for analysis of or settlement of potential or
31 actual money damage claims against a public entity and its employees or
32 against the industrial special indemnity fund except as otherwise discoverable
33 under the Idaho or federal rules of civil procedure. These records shall
34 include, but are not limited to, claims evaluations, investigatory records,
35 computerized reports of losses, case reserves, internal documents and corre-
36 spondence relating thereto. At the time any claim is concluded, only statisti-
37 cal data and actual amounts paid in settlement shall be deemed a public record
38 unless otherwise ordered to be sealed by a court of competent jurisdiction.
39 Provided however, nothing in this subsection is intended to limit the attorney
40 client privilege or attorney work product privilege otherwise available to any
41 public agency or independent public body corporate and politic.
42 (12) Records of laboratory test results provided by or retained by the
43 Idaho food quality assurance laboratory. Nothing in this subsection shall
44 limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if used,
45 for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
46 (13) Reports required to be filed under chapter 13, title 62, Idaho Code,
47 identifying electrical or natural or manufactured gas consumption data for an
48 individual customer or account.
49 (14) Voluntarily prepared environmental audits, and voluntary disclosures
50 of information submitted on or before December 31, 1997, to an environmental
51 agency as defined in section 9-803, Idaho Code, which are claimed to be confi-
52 dential business information.
53 (15) Computer programs developed or purchased by or for any public agency
54 or independent public body corporate and politic for its own use. As used in
55 this subsection, "computer program" means a series of instructions or state-
3
1 ments which permit the functioning of a computer system in a manner designed
2 to provide storage, retrieval and manipulation of data from the computer sys-
3 tem, and any associated documentation and source material that explain how to
4 operate the computer program. Computer program does not include:
5 (a) The original data including, but not limited to, numbers, text,
6 voice, graphics and images;
7 (b) Analysis, compilation and other manipulated forms of the original
8 data produced by use of the program; or
9 (c) The mathematical or statistical formulas that would be used if the
10 manipulated forms of the original data were to be produced manually.
11 (16) Active investigative records and trademark usage audits of the Idaho
12 potato commission specifically relating to the enforcement of chapter 12,
13 title 22, Idaho Code, until the commencement of formal proceedings as provided
14 by rules of the commission; purchase and sales information submitted to the
15 Idaho potato commission during a trademark usage audit, and investigation or
16 enforcement proceedings. Inactive investigatory records shall be disclosed
17 unless the disclosure would violate the standards set forth in subsections
18 (1)(a) through (f) of section 9-335, Idaho Code. Nothing in this subsection
19 shall limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if
20 used, for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceed-
21 ing.
22 (17) All records copied or obtained by the director of the department of
23 agriculture or his designee as a result of an inspection pursuant to section
24 25-3806, Idaho Code, except:
25 (a) Records otherwise deemed to be public records not exempt from disclo-
26 sure pursuant to this chapter; and
27 (b) Inspection reports, determinations of compliance or noncompliance and
28 all other records created by the director or his designee pursuant to sec-
29 tion 25-3806, Idaho Code.
30 (18) All data and information collected by the division of animal indus-
31 tries or the state brand board pursuant to the provisions of section 25-207B,
32 Idaho Code, or rules promulgated thereunder.
33 (19) Records disclosed to a county official by the state tax commission
34 pursuant to subsection (4)(c) of section 63-3029B, Idaho Code.
35 (20) Records, data, information and materials collected, developed, gener-
36 ated, ascertained or discovered during the course of academic research at pub-
37 lic institutions of higher education if the disclosure of such could reason-
38 ably affect the conduct or outcome of the research, or the ability of the pub-
39 lic institution of higher education to patent or copyright the research or
40 protect intellectual property.
41 (21) Records, data, information and materials collected or utilized during
42 the course of academic research at public institutions of higher education
43 provided by any person or entity other than the public institution of higher
44 education or a public agency.
45 (22) The exemptions from disclosure provided in subsections (20) and (21)
46 of this section shall apply only until the academic research is publicly
47 released, copyrighted or patented, or until the academic research is completed
48 or terminated. At such time, the records, data, information, and materials
49 shall be subject to public disclosure unless: (a) another exemption in this
50 chapter applies; (b) such information was provided to the institution subject
51 to a written agreement of confidentiality; or (c) public disclosure would pose
52 a danger to persons or property.
53 (23) The exemptions from disclosure provided in subsections (20) and (21)
54 of this section do not include basic information about a particular research
55 project that is otherwise subject to public disclosure, such as the nature of
4
1 the academic research, the name of the researcher, and the amount and source
2 of the funding provided for the project.
3 (24) Records of a county assessor containing information showing the
4 income and expenses of a taxpayer, which information was provided to the
5 assessor by the taxpayer to permit the assessor to determine the value of
6 property of the taxpayer.
7 (25) Results of laboratory tests conducted by the Idaho state department
8 of agriculture animal health and seed laboratories on samples submitted by
9 veterinarians, animal owners, seed producers, or seed companies. Nothing in
10 this subsection shall limit the use which can be made, or availability of such
11 information if used in an enforcement action, its admissibility in any
12 enforcement proceeding, or its release if determined by the director of the
13 Idaho state department of agriculture to be in the best interest of human,
14 animal or plant health.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 16966
Records of test results from private laboratories, out-of-state
laboratories, and the Idaho food quality assurance laboratory are
kept confidential. This bill would extend the same
confidentiality to test results from tests conducted as Idaho
state department of agriculture animal health and seed
laboratories unless the records are used in an enforcement action
or the director determines that it is in the best interest of
human, animal or plant health to release the information.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund.
Contact
Name: John Chatburn
Phone: 332-8540
Rep. Darrell Bolz
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 148