Florida Senate - 2021 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for HB 1055 Ì128754?Î128754 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: WD . 04/21/2021 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Rules (Baxley) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete everything after the enacting clause 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Section 119.0715, Florida Statutes, is created 6 to read: 7 119.0715 Trade secrets held by an agency.— 8 (1) “Trade secret" has the same meaning as in s. 688.002. 9 (2) PUBLIC RECORD EXEMPTION.—A trade secret held by an 10 agency is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 11 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. 12 (3) SUBMISSION OF TRADE SECRET TO AN AGENCY.— 13 (a) If a person who submits records to an agency claims 14 that such submission contains a trade secret, such person shall 15 submit to the agency a notice of trade secret at the time he or 16 she submits such records to the agency. Failure to do so 17 constitutes a waiver of any claim by such person that the record 18 contains a trade secret. The notice must provide the name, 19 telephone number, and mailing address of the person claiming the 20 record contains a trade secret, and a specific description of 21 the information contained in the record claimed to be a trade 22 secret. Such person is responsible for updating his or her 23 contact information with the agency. 24 (b) Duty to Mark. 25 1. Each page of a record or specific portion of a record 26 that contains a trade secret must be clearly marked with the 27 words "trade secret." 28 2. For voluminous records or records in electronic data 29 format which prohibit or make page by page marking unduly 30 burdensome, the initial page of such record must be clearly 31 marked with the words "trade secret." 32 (c) When submitting a notice of trade secret to the agency, 33 the submitting party must verify to the agency through a written 34 declaration in the manner provided in s. 92.525 the following: 35 36 [...I have/my company has...] read the definition of a 37 trade secret in s. 688.002, Florida Statutes, and [...I 38 believe/my company believes...] the information contained in 39 this record is a trade secret as defined in s. 688.002, Florida 40 Statutes. 41 [...I have/my company has...] taken measures to prevent the 42 disclosure of the record or specific portion of the record 43 claimed to be a trade secret to anyone other than those who have 44 been selected to have access for limited purposes, and [...I 45 intend/my company intends...] to continue to take such measures. 46 The record or specific portion of the record claimed to be 47 a trade secret is not, and has not been, reasonably obtainable 48 without [...my/our...] consent by other persons by use of 49 legitimate means. 50 The record or specific portion of the record claimed to be 51 a trade secret is not publicly available elsewhere. 52 53 (4) AGENCY ACCESS.—An agency may disclose a trade secret, 54 together with the notice of trade secret, to an officer or 55 employee of another agency or governmental entity whose use of 56 the trade secret is within the scope of his or her lawful duties 57 and responsibilities. 58 (5) LIABILITY.—An agency employee who, while acting in good 59 faith and in the performance of his or her duties, releases a 60 record containing a trade secret pursuant to this act is not 61 liable, civilly or criminally, for such release. 62 (6) OPEN GOVERNMENT SUNSET REVIEW.—This section is subject 63 to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 64 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2026, unless 65 reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the 66 Legislature. 67 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 68 necessity that trade secrets held by an agency be made 69 confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and 70 s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution. The Legislature 71 recognizes that an agency may create trade secret information in 72 furtherance of the agency's duties and responsibilities and that 73 disclosure of such information would be detrimental to the 74 effective and efficient operation of the agency. If such trade 75 secret information were made available to the public, the agency 76 could suffer great economic harm. In addition, the Legislature 77 recognizes that in many instances, individuals and businesses 78 provide trade secret information for regulatory or other 79 purposes to an agency and that disclosure of such information to 80 competitors of those businesses would be detrimental to the 81 businesses. Without the public record exemption, those entities 82 would hesitate to cooperate with an agency, which would impair 83 the effective and efficient administration of governmental 84 functions. As such, the Legislature's intent is to protect trade 85 secret information of a confidential nature that includes a 86 formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, 87 technique, or process used that derives independent economic 88 value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, 89 and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other 90 persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or 91 use. Therefore, the Legislature finds that the need to protect 92 trade secrets is sufficiently compelling to override this 93 state's public policy of open government and that the protection 94 of such information cannot be accomplished without this 95 exemption. 96 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 97 98 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 99 And the title is amended as follows: 100 Delete everything before the enacting clause 101 and insert: 102 A bill to be entitled 103 An act relating to public records; amending s. 104 119.011, F.S.; providing a definition for "trade 105 secret"; creating s. 119.0715, F.S.; providing an 106 exemption from public records requirements for a trade 107 secret held by an agency; providing notice 108 requirements; providing marking requirements; 109 providing an exception to the marking requirements; 110 providing an exception to the exemption; providing 111 that an agency employee is not liable for the release 112 of certain records; providing for future legislative 113 review and repeal of the exemption; providing a 114 statement of public necessity; providing an effective 115 date.