§ 1193. TRADE SECRETS.

(a) If a stationary source believes that any information submitted or otherwise provided to the Department pursuant to this Article involves the release of a trade secret, the stationary source shall provide the information to the Department and shall notify the Department in writing of that belief. Upon receipt of a claim of trade secret related to an RMP, the Department shall review the claim and shall segregate properly substantiated trade secret information from information which shall be made available to the public upon request in accordance with the California Public Records Act. The Department shall not disclose any properly substantiated trade secret which is so designated by a stationary source except in compliance with this Section and Section 25538 of the Health and Safety Code.

(b) Information certified by appropriate officials of the United States, as necessarily kept secret for national defense purposes, shall be accorded the full protection against disclosure as specified by such official or in accordance with the laws of the United States.

(c) The location of explosives stored by the San Francisco Police Department and other law enforcement or government agencies shall not be disclosed.

(d) Information designated as a trade secret may be disclosed to:

(1) An officer or employee of the City and County of San Francisco, the State of California or the United States of America, for use in connection with the official duties of such officer or employee acting under authority of law for the protection of health;

(2) Persons or businesses contracting with the City and County and their employees if, in the opinion of the Director of Health, such disclosure is necessary and required for the satisfactory performance of the work to be done under the contract or to protect the health and safety of the employees of the contractor;

(3) Any physician where the physician certifies in writing to the Director of Health that such information is necessary to the medical treatment of a patient; where the Director determines that a medical emergency exists, the Director may waive the written certification; or

(4) Health professionals (i.e., physician, industrial hygienist, toxicologist, epidemiologist, or occupational health nurse) in a nonemergency situation where the request is in writing and the request describes in reasonable detail the medical need for the information.

(e) (1) When the Director receives a request for information which includes information which the stationary source has designated as a trade secret, the Director shall notify the stationary source of said request by certified mail. The stationary source shall have 30 days from receipt of the notice to provide the Director with any materials or information intended to supplement the information submitted pursuant to Subsection (a) and needed to substantiate the trade secret claim.

(2) The Director shall inform the stationary source by certified mail that some or all of a claim of trade secret has not been substantiated. The Director shall release the information 30 days after receipt by the stationary source of said notice, unless prior to the expiration of said 30-day period, the stationary source files an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for a declaratory judgment that the information is subject to protection under Subsection (b) as a trade secret, or for an injunction prohibiting disclosure of said information to the general public, and promptly notifies the Director of that action.

(f) In adopting this Article, the Board of Supervisors does not intend to authorize or require the disclosure to the public of any trade secrets protected under the laws of the State of California.

(g) This Section is not intended to authorize a stationary source to refuse to disclose any information, including but not limited to, trade secrets, required pursuant to this Article.

(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, any officer or employee of the City and County, or former officer or employee or contractor with the City or employee thereof, who by virtue of such employment or official position has obtained possession of or has had access to information, the disclosure of which is prohibited by this Section, and who knowing that disclosure of the information is prohibited, knowingly and wilfully discloses the information in any manner to any person not entitled to receive it, shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by both fine and imprisonment.

(i) The Director of Health shall advise any person to whom a trade secret is disclosed pursuant to this Section that the disclosure thereof, except as authorized by this Section, constitutes a misdemeanor.

(Added by Ord. 399-97, App. 10/17/97)