(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), the department shall make any record, report, or other information obtained in the administration of this section available to the public pursuant to the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
(B) The department shall keep confidential any part of a record, report, or other information obtained in the administration of this section, other than emission data, discharge data, or information contained in a cooperative agreement, upon a showing satisfactory to the department by any person that the part of a record, report, or other information would, if made public, divulge a method or process that is entitled to protection as a trade secret, as defined in Section 30-4-40, of that person.
(C) If the department refuses to release information on the grounds that it is confidential under subsection (B) and a person challenges that refusal, the department shall inform the applicant or participant of that challenge. Unless the applicant or participant authorizes the department to release the information, the applicant or participant shall pay the reasonable costs incurred by this State to defend the refusal to release the information.
(D) Subsection (B) does not prevent the disclosure of any information to a representative of the department for the purpose of administering this chapter.
HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 318, Section 1.