(a) A person providing information pursuant to this article may, at the time of submission, identify a portion of the information submitted to the department as a trade secret and, upon the written request of the department, shall provide support for the claim that the information is a trade secret. Except as provided in subdivision (d), a state agency shall not release to the public, subject information supplied pursuant to this article that is a trade secret, and that is so identified at the time of submission, in accordance with Section 6254.7 of the Government Code and Section 1060 of the Evidence Code.

(b) This section does not prohibit the exchange of a properly designated trade secret between public agencies, if the trade secret is relevant and necessary to the exercise of the agency’s jurisdiction and the public agency exchanging the trade secrets complies with this section. An employee of the department that has access to a properly designated trade secret shall maintain the confidentiality of that trade secret by complying with this section.

(c) Information not identified as a trade secret pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be available to the public unless exempted from disclosure by other provisions of law. The fact that information is claimed to be a trade secret is public information.

(d) (1) Upon receipt of a request for the release of information that has been claimed to be a trade secret, the department shall immediately notify the person who submitted the information. Based on the request, the department shall determine whether or not the information claimed to be a trade secret is to be released to the public.

(2) The department shall make the determination specified in paragraph (1), no later than 60 days after the date the department receives the request for disclosure, but not before 30 days following the notification of the person who submitted the information.

(3) If the department decides that the information requested pursuant to this subdivision should be made public, the department shall provide the person who submitted the information 30 days’ notice prior to public disclosure of the information, unless, prior to the expiration of the 30-day period, the person who submitted the information obtains an action in an appropriate court for a declaratory judgment that the information is subject to protection under this section or for a preliminary injunction prohibiting disclosure of the information to the public and promptly notifies the department of that action.

(e) This section does not authorize a person to refuse to disclose to the department information required to be submitted to the department pursuant to this article.

(f) This section does not apply to hazardous trait submissions for chemicals and chemical ingredients pursuant to this article.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 559, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2009.)