Generally. Part 7 of the Office of the Secretary regulations, Public Availability of Information, governs the availability of records and documents of the Department to the public. (49 CFR 7.1 et seq.)

Information contained in written documents. Any person who objects to the public disclosure of any information filed in any proceeding, or pursuant to the provisions of the Statute, or any Department rule, regulation, or order, shall segregate, or request the segregation of, such information into a separate submission and shall file it separately in a sealed envelope, bearing the caption of the enclosed submission, and the notation “Confidential Treatment Requested Under § 302.12.” At the time of filing such submission (or, when the objection is made by a person who is not the filer, within five (5) days after the filing of such submission), the objecting party shall file a motion to withhold the information from public disclosure, in accordance with the procedure outlined in paragraph (d) or (f) of this section, as appropriate. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, copies of the filed submission and of the motion need not be served upon any other party unless so ordered by the Department.

Information contained in oral testimony. Any person who objects to the public disclosure of any information sought to be elicited from a witness or deponent on oral examination shall, before such information is disclosed, make his or her objection known. Upon such objection duly made, the witness or deponent shall be compelled to disclose such information only in the presence of the administrative law judge or the person before whom the deposition is being taken, as the case may be, the official stenographer and such attorneys for and representative of each party as the administrative law judge or the person before whom the deposition is being taken shall designate, and after all present have been sworn to secrecy. The transcript of testimony containing such information shall be segregated and filed in a sealed envelope, bearing the title and docket number of the proceeding, and the notation “Confidential Treatment Requested Under § 302.12 Testimony Given by (name of witness or deponent).” Within five (5) days after such testimony is given, the objecting person shall file a motion in accordance with the procedure outlined in paragraph (d) of this section, to withhold the information from public disclosure. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, copies of the segregated portion of the transcript and of the motion need not be served upon any other party unless so ordered by the Department.

Form of motion. Motions to withhold from public disclosure information covered by paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section shall be filed with the Department in accordance with the following procedure:

The motion shall include:

An index listing the information or document sought to be withheld by an identifying number, and including its title, description and number of pages, and, if relevant, the specific location within a document;

A statement explaining how and why the information falls within one or more of the exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1)-(9)); and

A statement explaining how and why public disclosure of the information would adversely affect the interests of the objecting persons and is not required in the interest of the public.

Such motion shall be filed with the person conducting the proceeding, or with the person with whom said application, report, or submission is required to be filed. Such motion will be denied when the complete justification required by this paragraph is not provided.

During the pendency of such motion, the ruling official may, by notice or order, allow limited disclosure to parties' representatives, for purposes of participating in the proceeding, upon submission by them of affidavits swearing to protect the confidentiality of the documents at issue.

Conditions of disclosure. The order, notice or other action of the Department containing its ruling upon each such motion will specify the extent to which, and the conditions upon which, the information may be disclosed to the parties and to the public, which ruling shall become effective upon the date stated therein, unless, within five (5) days after the date of the entry of the Department's order with respect thereto, a petition is filed by the objecting person requesting reconsideration by the Department, or a written statement is filed indicating that the objecting person in good faith intends to seek judicial review of the Department's order.

Objection by Government departments or representative thereof. In the case of objection to the public disclosure of any information filed by or elicited from any United States Government department or agency, or representative thereof, under paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, the department or agency making such objection shall be exempted from the provisions of paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section insofar as said paragraphs require the filing of a written objection to such disclosure. However, any department, agency, or representative thereof may, if it so desires, file a memorandum setting forth the reasons why it is claimed that a public disclosure of the information should not be made. If such a memorandum is submitted, it shall be filed and handled as is provided by this section in the case of a motion to withhold information from public disclosure.