§ 4901.24 Special rules for trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information submitted to PBGC.

(a) Application. To the extent permitted by law, this section applies to a request for disclosure of a record that contains information that has been designated by the submitter in good faith in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section or a record that PBGC has reason to believe contains such information, unless one of the following applies:

(1) Access to the information is denied.

(2) The information has been published or officially made available to the public.

(3) Disclosure of the information is required by law other than FOIA.

(4) The designation under paragraph (b) of this section appears obviously frivolous, except that in such a case PBGC will notify the submitter in writing of a determination to disclose the information within a reasonable time before the disclosure date (which shall be specified in the notice).

(b) Designation by submitter. To designate information as being subject to this section, the submitter must, at the time of submission or by a reasonable time thereafter, assert that information being submitted is confidential business information and designate, with appropriate markings, the portion(s) of the submission to which the assertion applies. Any designation under this paragraph (b) will expire 10 years after the date of submission unless a longer designation period is requested and reasonable justification is provided.

(c) Notification to submitter of disclosure request. When disclosure of information subject to this section may be made, the Disclosure Officer or (where disclosure may be made in response to an appeal) the General Counsel will promptly notify the submitter, describing (or providing a copy of) the information that may be disclosed, and afford the submitter a reasonable period of time to object in writing to the requested disclosure. (The notification to the submitter may be oral or written; if oral, it will be confirmed in writing.) When a submitter is notified under this paragraph (c), the requester will be notified that the submitter is being afforded an opportunity to object to disclosure.

(d) Objection of submitter. A submitter's statement objecting to disclosure must specify all grounds relied upon for opposing disclosure of any portion(s) of the information under section 552(b) of FOIA and, with respect to the exemption in section 552(b)(4), demonstrate why the information is a trade secret or is commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential. Facts asserted must be certified or otherwise supported. (Information provided pursuant to this paragraph may itself be subject to disclosure under FOIA.) Any timely objection of a submitter under this paragraph (d) will be carefully considered in determining whether to grant a disclosure request or appeal.

(e) Notification to submitter of decision to disclose. If the Disclosure Officer or (where disclosure is in response to an appeal) the General Counsel decides to disclose information subject to this section despite the submitter's objections, the Disclosure Officer (or General Counsel) will give the submitter written notice, explaining briefly why the information is to be disclosed despite those objections, describing the information to be disclosed, and specifying the date when the information will be disclosed to the requester. The notification will, to the extent permitted by law, be provided a reasonable number of days before the disclosure date so specified, and a copy will be provided to the requester.

(f) Notification to submitter of action to compel disclosure. The Disclosure Officer or the General Counsel will promptly notify the submitter if a requester brings suit seeking to compel disclosure.

[61 FR 34123, July 1, 1996, as amended at 87 FR 43997, July 25, 2022]