81-1527. Records and information; confidential use.

(1) Any records or other information furnished to or obtained by the department concerning one or more air, water, or land contaminant sources, which records or information, as certified by the owner or operator and determined by the director to relate to methods or processes entitled to protection as trade secrets of such owner or operator, shall be only for the confidential use of the department in the administration of the Environmental Protection Act and the Integrated Solid Waste Management Act unless such owner or operator expressly agrees to their publication or availability to the general public, except that emission data obtained under the Clean Air Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq., or effluent data, permit applications, draft permits, or permits as issued, all under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, Public Law 92-500, as amended, shall be available to the public during business hours. Any information to be accorded confidential status in a national pollutant discharge elimination system form shall be forwarded to the Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for concurrence with the director's determination of such status. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the use of such records or information by the department in compiling or publishing analyses or summaries relating to the general condition of water or the land or the outdoor atmosphere as long as such analyses or summaries do not identify any owner or operator or reveal any information otherwise confidential under this section.

(2) The director shall permit the Administrator or Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency or his or her delegates to inspect the confidential records of the department concerning a given source.

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