Sec. 7. (a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c), the privilege described in section 1 of this chapter does not apply to the extent that the privilege is waived:
(1) expressly; or
(2) by implication;
by the owner or operator who prepared the environmental report or caused the report to be prepared.
(b) A party that submits an environmental audit report to the department waives any privilege to which the party would otherwise be entitled under this chapter. If the department determines under IC 5-14-3-4(a) that part of an environmental audit report is excepted from IC 5-14-3-3, then that part of the environmental audit report may not be disclosed by a public agency unless access to the report is required by a state or federal statute or is ordered by a court as provided under IC 5-14-3-4(a).
(c) When the department or a prosecuting attorney obtains, reviews, or uses an environmental audit report in a criminal proceeding, the administrative or civil evidentiary privilege created by this chapter is not waived or eliminated for any other purpose.
[Pre-1996 Recodification Citation: 13-10-3-9.]
As added by P.L.1-1996, SEC.18. Amended by P.L.224-1999, SEC.15.