California Government Code Sections 7924.300-7924.335

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California Government Code Section 7924.300

If both of the following conditions are satisfied, nothing in this division exempts from public disclosure the same categories of pesticide safety and efficacy information that are disclosable under Section 10(d)(1) of the federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. Sec. 136h(d)(1)):

(a) The individual requesting the information is not an officer, employee, or agent specified in subdivision (a) of Section 7924.310.

(b) The individual signs the affirmation specified in subdivision (b) of Section 7924.310.

California Government Code Section 7924.305

(a)The Director of Pesticide Regulation, upon his or her initiative, or upon receipt of a request pursuant to this chapter for the release of data submitted and designated as a trade secret by a registrant or applicant, shall determine whether any or all of the data so submitted is a properly designated trade secret. In order to assure that the interested public has an opportunity to obtain and review pesticide safety and efficacy data and to comment prior to the expiration of the public comment period on a proposed pesticide registration, the director shall provide notice to interested persons when an application for registration enters the registration evaluation process.

(b) If the director determines that the data is not a trade secret, the director shall notify the registrant or applicant by certified mail.

(c)The registrant or applicant shall have 30 days after receipt of this notification to provide the director with a complete justification and statement of the grounds on which the trade secret privilege is claimed. This justification and statement shall be submitted by certified mail.

(d) The director shall determine whether the data is protected as a trade secret within 15 days after receipt of the justification and statement or, if no justification and statement is filed, within 45 days of the original notice. The director shall notify the registrant or applicant and any party who has requested the data pursuant to this chapter of that determination by certified mail. If the director determines that the data is not protected as a trade secret, the final notice shall also specify a date, not sooner than 15 days after the date of mailing of the final notice, when the data shall be available to any person requesting information pursuant to subdivision (a).

(e) This article does not prohibit any person from maintaining a civil action for wrongful disclosure of a trade secret.

(f) "Trade secret" means data that is nondisclosable under paragraph (1) of subsection (d) of Section 10 of the federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

California Government Code Section 7924.310

(a) Unless the applicant or registrant consents to disclosure of information that the applicant or registrant submits to the state pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 12811) of Chapter 2 of Division 7 of the Food and Agricultural Code, the Director of Pesticide Regulation shall not knowingly disclose any of that information to any of the following:

(1) An officer, employee, or agent of any business or other entity engaged in the production, sale, or distribution of pesticides in a country other than the United States, or in a country in addition to the United States.

(2) Any other person who intends to deliver this information to any foreign or multinational business or entity.

(b) To implement this section, the director shall require a person requesting information described in subdivision (a) to sign the following affirmation:

AFFIRMATION OF STATUS

This affirmation is required Article 1 (commencing with Section 7924.300) of Chapter 3 of Part 5 of Division 10 of Title 1of the Government Code.

(c) Section 118 of the Penal Code applies to any affirmation made pursuant to this article.

California Government Code Section 7924.315

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, if the Director of Pesticide Regulation determines that information submitted by an applicant or registrant is needed to determine whether a pesticide, or any ingredient of any pesticide, causes unreasonable adverse effects on health or the environment, the director may disclose that information to any person in connection with a public proceeding conducted under law or regulation.

California Government Code Section 7924.325

The Director of Pesticide Regulation may limit an individual to one request per month pursuant to this article if the director determines that a person has made a frivolous request within the past 12-month period.

California Government Code Section 7924.330

(a) Any officer or employee of the state, or former officer or employee of the state, who, because of this employment or official position, obtains possession of, or has access to, material which is prohibited from disclosure by this article, and who, knowing that disclosure of this material is prohibited by this article, willfully discloses the material in any manner to any person not entitled to receive it, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both fine and imprisonment.

(b) For purposes of this section, any contractor with the state who is furnished information pursuant to this article, or any employee of any contractor, shall be considered an employee of the state.

California Government Code Section 7924.335

This article shall be operative only so long as, and to the extent that, enforcement of Section 10(d)(1) of the federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. Sec. 136h(d)(1)) has not been enjoined by federal court order. If a final and unappealable federal court judgment or decision holds that paragraph invalid, this article shall become inoperative, to the extent of the invalidity.