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H0059...............................................by AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS
AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT - LABORATORY TESTS - Amends existing law relating to
records exempt from disclosure to provide that certain records of
laboratory test results provided by or retained by the Idaho Department of
Agriculture are exempt from disclosure.
01/25 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/26 Rpt prt - to Agric Aff
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-ninth Legislature First Regular Session - 2007
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 59
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 RECORDS OF LABORATORY TEST RESULTS PROVIDED
4 BY OR RETAINED BY THE IDAHO STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ARE EXEMPT
5 FROM DISCLOSURE.
6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
7 SECTION 1. That Section 9-340D, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
8 amended to read as follows:
9 9-340D. RECORDS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE -- TRADE SECRETS, PRODUCTION
10 RECORDS, APPRAISALS, BIDS, PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. The following records are
11 exempt from disclosure:
12 (1) Trade secrets including those contained in response to public agency
13 or independent public body corporate and politic requests for proposal,
14 requests for clarification, requests for information and similar requests.
15 "Trade secrets" as used in this section means information, including a for-
16 mula, pattern, compilation, program, computer program, device, method, tech-
17 nique, process, or unpublished or in progress research that:
18 (a) Derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not
19 being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper
20 means by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure
21 or use; and
22 (b) Is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances
23 to maintain its secrecy.
24 (2) Production records, housing production, rental and financing records,
25 sale or purchase records, catch records, mortgage portfolio loan documents, or
26 similar business records of a private concern or enterprise required by law to
27 be submitted to or inspected by a public agency or submitted to or otherwise
28 obtained by an independent public body corporate and politic. Nothing in this
29 subsection shall limit the use which can be made of such information for regu-
30 latory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
31 (3) Records relating to the appraisal of real property, timber or mineral
32 rights prior to its acquisition, sale or lease by a public agency or indepen-
33 dent public body corporate and politic.
34 (4) Any estimate prepared by a public agency or independent public body
35 corporate and politic that details the cost of a public project until such
36 time as disclosed or bids are opened, or upon award of the contract for con-
37 struction of the public project.
38 (5) Examination, operating or condition reports and all documents relat-
39 ing thereto, prepared by or supplied to any public agency or independent pub-
40 lic body corporate and politic responsible for the regulation or supervision
41 of financial institutions including, but not limited to, banks, savings and
42 loan associations, regulated lenders, business and industrial development cor-
43 porations, credit unions, and insurance companies, or for the regulation or
2
1 supervision of the issuance of securities.
2 (6) Records gathered by a local agency or the Idaho department of com-
3 merce, as described in chapter 47, title 67, Idaho Code, for the specific pur-
4 pose of assisting a person to locate, maintain, invest in, or expand business
5 operations in the state of Idaho.
6 (7) Shipping and marketing records of commodity commissions used to eval-
7 uate marketing and advertising strategies and the names and addresses of grow-
8 ers and shippers maintained by commodity commissions.
9 (8) Financial statements and business information and reports submitted
10 by a legal entity to a port district organized under title 70, Idaho Code, in
11 connection with a business agreement, or with a development proposal or with a
12 financing application for any industrial, manufacturing, or other business
13 activity within a port district.
14 (9) Names and addresses of seed companies, seed crop growers, seed crop
15 consignees, locations of seed crop fields, variety name and acreage by vari-
16 ety. Upon the request of the owner of the proprietary variety, this informa-
17 tion shall be released to the owner. Provided however, that if a seed crop has
18 been identified as diseased or has been otherwise identified by the Idaho
19 department of agriculture, other state departments of agriculture, or the
20 United States department of agriculture to represent a threat to that particu-
21 lar seed or commercial crop industry or to individual growers, information as
22 to test results, location, acreage involved and disease symptoms of that par-
23 ticular seed crop, for that growing season, shall be available for public
24 inspection and copying. This exemption shall not supersede the provisions of
25 section 22-436, Idaho Code.
26 (10) Information obtained from books, records and accounts required in
27 chapter 47, title 22, Idaho Code, to be maintained by the Idaho canola and
28 rapeseed commission and pertaining to the individual production records of ca-
29 nola or rapeseed growers.
30 (11) Records of any risk retention or self-insurance program prepared in
31 anticipation of litigation or for analysis of or settlement of potential or
32 actual money damage claims against a public entity and its employees or
33 against the industrial special indemnity fund except as otherwise discoverable
34 under the Idaho or federal rules of civil procedure. These records shall
35 include, but are not limited to, claims evaluations, investigatory records,
36 computerized reports of losses, case reserves, internal documents and corre-
37 spondence relating thereto. At the time any claim is concluded, only statisti-
38 cal data and actual amounts paid in settlement shall be deemed a public record
39 unless otherwise ordered to be sealed by a court of competent jurisdiction.
40 Provided however, nothing in this subsection is intended to limit the attorney
41 client privilege or attorney work product privilege otherwise available to any
42 public agency or independent public body corporate and politic.
43 (12) Records of laboratory test results provided by or retained by the
44 Idaho food quality assurance laboratory. Nothing in this subsection shall
45 limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if used,
46 for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceeding.
47 (13) Reports required to be filed under chapter 13, title 62, Idaho Code,
48 identifying electrical or natural or manufactured gas consumption data for an
49 individual customer or account.
50 (14) Voluntarily prepared environmental audits, and voluntary disclosures
51 of information submitted on or before December 31, 1997, to an environmental
52 agency as defined in section 9-803, Idaho Code, which are claimed to be confi-
53 dential business information.
54 (15) Computer programs developed or purchased by or for any public agency
55 or independent public body corporate and politic for its own use. As used in
3
1 this subsection, "computer program" means a series of instructions or state-
2 ments which permit the functioning of a computer system in a manner designed
3 to provide storage, retrieval and manipulation of data from the computer sys-
4 tem, and any associated documentation and source material that explain how to
5 operate the computer program. Computer program does not include:
6 (a) The original data including, but not limited to, numbers, text,
7 voice, graphics and images;
8 (b) Analysis, compilation and other manipulated forms of the original
9 data produced by use of the program; or
10 (c) The mathematical or statistical formulas that would be used if the
11 manipulated forms of the original data were to be produced manually.
12 (16) Active investigative records and trademark usage audits of the Idaho
13 potato commission specifically relating to the enforcement of chapter 12,
14 title 22, Idaho Code, until the commencement of formal proceedings as provided
15 by rules of the commission; purchase and sales information submitted to the
16 Idaho potato commission during a trademark usage audit, and investigation or
17 enforcement proceedings. Inactive investigatory records shall be disclosed
18 unless the disclosure would violate the standards set forth in subsections
19 (1)(a) through (f) of section 9-335, Idaho Code. Nothing in this subsection
20 shall limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if
21 used, for regulatory purposes or its admissibility in any enforcement proceed-
22 ing.
23 (17) All records copied or obtained by the director of the department of
24 agriculture or his designee as a result of an inspection pursuant to section
25 25-3806, Idaho Code, except:
26 (a) Records otherwise deemed to be public records not exempt from disclo-
27 sure pursuant to this chapter; and
28 (b) Inspection reports, determinations of compliance or noncompliance and
29 all other records created by the director or his designee pursuant to sec-
30 tion 25-3806, Idaho Code.
31 (18) All data and information collected by the division of animal indus-
32 tries or the state brand board pursuant to the provisions of section 25-207B,
33 Idaho Code, or rules promulgated thereunder.
34 (19) Records disclosed to a county official by the state tax commission
35 pursuant to subsection (4)(c) of section 63-3029B, Idaho Code.
36 (20) Records, data, information and materials collected, developed, gener-
37 ated, ascertained or discovered during the course of academic research at pub-
38 lic institutions of higher education if the disclosure of such could reason-
39 ably affect the conduct or outcome of the research, or the ability of the pub-
40 lic institution of higher education to patent or copyright the research or
41 protect intellectual property.
42 (21) Records, data, information and materials collected or utilized during
43 the course of academic research at public institutions of higher education
44 provided by any person or entity other than the public institution of higher
45 education or a public agency.
46 (22) The exemptions from disclosure provided in subsections (20) and (21)
47 of this section shall apply only until the academic research is publicly
48 released, copyrighted or patented, or until the academic research is completed
49 or terminated. At such time, the records, data, information, and materials
50 shall be subject to public disclosure unless: (a) another exemption in this
51 chapter applies; (b) such information was provided to the institution subject
52 to a written agreement of confidentiality; or (c) public disclosure would pose
53 a danger to persons or property.
54 (23) The exemptions from disclosure provided in subsections (20) and (21)
55 of this section do not include basic information about a particular research
4
1 project that is otherwise subject to public disclosure, such as the nature of
2 the academic research, the name of the researcher, and the amount and source
3 of the funding provided for the project.
4 (24) Records of a county assessor containing information showing the
5 income and expenses of a taxpayer, which information was provided to the
6 assessor by the taxpayer to permit the assessor to determine the value of
7 property of the taxpayer.
8 (25) Records of laboratory test results provided by or retained by the
9 Idaho state department of agriculture laboratories. Nothing in this subsection
10 shall limit the use which can be made, or availability of such information if
11 used in an enforcement action, its admissibility in any enforcement proceed-
12 ing, or its release if determined by the director of the Idaho state depart-
13 ment of agriculture to be in the best interest of human, animal or plant
14 health.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 16514
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 records of test results from tests conducted
at Idaho state department of agriculture 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 NOTE
There is no fiscal impact.
CONTACT
Name: Dr. Greg Ledbetter
Agency: Agriculture, Dept. of
Phone: 332-8540
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 59