New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 31 - TOXIC CATASTROPHE PREVENTION ACT PROGRAM › Subchapter 10 - CONFIDENTIALITY AND TRADE SECRETS › Section 7:31-10.2 - General provisions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) All information collected by or originated by the Department in connection with the Act, this chapter or the TCPA program shall be made available to the public in accordance with 47:1A-1 et seq. except as otherwise provided in this subchapter.
(b) The Department shall protect from disclosure to the public any security information and any confidential information obtained pursuant to the Act or this chapter.
(c) Confidential information, supplied to the Department, will be disclosed only to the employees or agents of the Department and only on a need-to-know basis for the purposes of carrying out or enforcing the provisions of the Act or this chapter, or for use in civil or criminal proceedings, if so ordered by a court.
(d) An owner or operator may file a claim with the Department to withhold from public disclosure confidential information required to be submitted to the Department at any time such information is required to be submitted to the Department. An owner or operator may file a petition to withhold from the Department privileged trade secret or security information only at the time of filing the initial document submittals with the Department pursuant to 7:31-7.2, or within 30 days after receipt of a Department request for the facility data for owners or operators with no risk management program as provided by 7:31-9.1(c), or within 30 days of the creation of new privileged trade secret or security information. All such claims or petitions and any required substantiation shall be submitted in writing on forms provided by the Department in accordance with 7:31-10.4 and 10.6, respectively. If the space provided for responses on Department forms is not sufficient, additional pages, properly referenced, may be attached to the required forms to provide complete responses. All forms can be obtained from: Chief, Bureau of Release Prevention
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
PO Box 424
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0424
(e) The owner or operator shall initially submit or disclose only the confidential copy of documents containing confidential information to the Department. The public copy which shall have deleted all confidential information and be available for public disclosure shall be submitted to the Department only upon the Department's receipt of a request for the public disclosure of the information or if the Department otherwise decides to determine whether the information is entitled to confidential treatment. The confidential copy shall be for the Department's records and shall include all necessary information.
(f) Any confidential information supplied to the Department shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, by personal delivery, or by other means that provides verification of delivery, the date of delivery, and the name of the person who receives the document at the Department.
(g) A properly completed and submitted petition to withhold privileged trade secret or security information or any subsequent interim decisions by the Department concerning such petition shall not exempt the owner operator from compliance with the requirements of the Act or this chapter, except that the owner or operator will not be required to provide the Department with the trade secret or security information claimed as privileged, unless the petition is finally denied.
(h) No employees or agents of the Department are authorized to sign a confidentiality agreement or other non-disclosure agreement, and any such agreement so executed will be of no force or effect as to the Department.