2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 82. Minerals, Oil, and Gas › Chapter 10. Oil and Gas -- General Provisions › Part 6. Disclosure of Fracturing Fluids › 82-10-604. Confidentiality request for trade secrets

82-10-604. Confidentiality request for trade secrets.
(1) (a) If the owner or operator or service company providing fracturing services for a well believes that disclosing the complete composition of the fracturing fluid, including a specific ingredient's identity, concentrations, or both required in accordance with 82-10-603(2), will, if disclosed, reveal information entitled to protection as trade secrets as defined in 30-14-402 that should be exempt from public disclosure, the owner, operator, or service company may request that the administrator withhold the information.
(b) When an owner, operator, or service company requests that information be withheld, the department shall charge a fee of no more than $25 per ingredient or concentration for the request.
(2) To meet the requirement of subsection (1), the owner, operator, or service company shall provide the administrator with information demonstrating all of the following:
(a) that the ingredient identity, concentrations, or both, as appropriate, have not appeared in a public source or been publicly disclosed:
(i) pursuant to a federal or state law or regulation;
(ii) in a professional trade publication; or
(iii) through any other media or publication available to the public or competing oil and gas owners, operators, or service companies;
(b) to what extent the identity of the ingredient, its concentrations, or both, as appropriate, are known within a company and how the information is housed in the company and what steps employees, officers, agents, and directors take to prevent disclosure of the information;
(c) whether any other federal or state entity has determined that the ingredient identity, concentrations, or both, as appropriate, are not entitled to protection from public disclosure. A copy of the regulatory entity's determination, along with any explanation as to why the administrator should not make a similar determination, must be provided. Any information concerning prior requests for confidentiality that an owner, operator, or service company determines to be relevant also must be provided to the administrator;
(d) how the identity of the ingredient, its concentrations, or both, as appropriate, are commercially valuable to the owner, operator, or service company. A description of why the use of the ingredient, its concentrations, or both, as appropriate, is not common knowledge in the industry, including any novel or unusual aspects about the ingredient, must be provided.
(e) the ease or difficulty with which the complete composition of the fracturing fluid, including the ingredient identity, concentrations, or both, as appropriate, could be determined because of public disclosure. The information must explain why a systems approach format would not adequately protect a proprietary interest.
(3) An owner, operator, or service company shall provide the administrator with a description of the investigation completed by the owner, operator, or service company to meet the requirements of subsection (2).
(4) (a) Within 5 days of receiving the information provided in accordance with subsection (2), the administrator shall determine whether an owner, operator, or service company must disclose the ingredient identity, concentrations, or both, as appropriate.
(b) If the administrator determines disclosure of the ingredient identity, concentrations, or both, as appropriate, is not required, the administrator shall:
(i) post the information required in accordance with 82-10-603 to the board of oil and gas conservation's website or to a website hosted by a nonprofit organization dedicated to ground water protection with members consisting of state ground water regulatory agencies, the interstate oil and gas compact commission, or both or their successors and redact the specific information about the ingredient identity, concentrations, or both, as appropriate, that the administrator has determined may be withheld from public disclosure in accordance with this section;
(ii) make available to the public the chemical family name in lieu of a specific chemical compound name and number for any ingredient, concentration, or both, as appropriate, that is being withheld; and
(iii) maintain the unredacted version of the information in the board of oil and gas conservation's confidential files.
(5) If the administrator makes a determination in accordance with subsection (4)(b) that information must be withheld from public disclosure, the owner, operator, or service company shall every 3 years update the information required in accordance with subsection (2) to confirm that the ingredient identity, concentrations, or both, as appropriate, have not been disclosed to the public in another forum.
(6) If an owner, operator, or service company disagrees with a determination by the administrator in accordance with subsections (1) through (5) that certain material will not be maintained as confidential, the owner, operator, or service company may file a declaratory judgment action in a court of competent jurisdiction to establish the existence of a trade secret if the owner, operator, or service company wishes the information to enjoy confidential status. The board must be served in the action and may intervene as a party. Information submitted to the board or administrator by an owner, operator, or service company and contested in accordance with this subsection may only be publicly disclosed after a determination is made by a court of competent jurisdiction. Information submitted in accordance with 82-10-603 must be treated in accordance with this part.
History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 316, L. 2017.