§ 3004.8 - Submission of business information.

(a) Any person who submits to the Commission a trade secret or commercial or financial information that the submitter reasonably believes to be exempt from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b) must designate the exempt information by appropriate markings at the time of submission or at a reasonable time after submission. The submission should be accompanied by a brief written statement explaining why the information is exempt. Any designation will expire ten years after the date of the submission unless the submitter requests, and provides justification for, a longer period.

(b) Before disclosing, in response to a FOIA request, any information properly designated under this part, the Commission will provide the submitter with written notice that a request seeks disclosure of the information. The Commission may also provide notice when it has reason to believe that business information possibly exempt from disclosure may fall within the scope of any FOIA request. The requester will be provided a copy of any notice sent to the submitter.

(c) A submitter has seven days to submit written objections to the disclosure specifying all grounds for withholding the information under the FOIA. If the submitter fails to respond to the notice, the submitter will be considered to have no objection to the disclosure of the information.

(d) If, after considering the submitter's objections to disclosure, the Commission decides to disclose the information, it will give the submitter written notice of the decision and a brief explanation of the reasons for not sustaining the submitter's objections. The actual disclosure will not be made before five days after the submitter has received the notice.

(e) A submitter may not receive notice if the Commission determines that the information should not be disclosed; if the information has been lawfully published or officially made available to the public; or if a statute (other than the FOIA) or a regulation requires disclosure.

(f) Protection of information made available pursuant to proceedings subject to the rules in 39 CFR part 3001, including information provided pursuant to that subpart requiring the filing of periodic reports, is provided upon request to the Commission as described in § 3001.31a.