(a) Consistent with the provisions of this Section 2005 and to the extent permitted by law, the Department of the Environment shall maintain the confidentiality of any information submitted by building owners under this Chapter 20, where the owner has informed the Department in writing within 15 business days of the submittal of such information that the information is confidential business information of the owner or of a building tenant. Estimated costs and benefits for energy conservation measures identified in individual Buildings shall be presumed confidential, unless otherwise indicated in writing by the building owner or it can be demonstrated that the information is already available to the public.
(b) The owner shall not be required by this Chapter 20 to disclose to third parties or the public confidential business information of the owner or individual tenants. However, the following limited summary information is not to be considered confidential:
(1) Confirmation that the Building is in compliance with this Chapter 20;
(2) The minimum ASHRAE audit level required in an energy efficiency audit of the Nonresidential Building, and the most recent date when an energy efficiency audit meeting the relevant standard was completed;
(3) Basic information describing the scale and use of the Nonresidential Building, and the major energy-consuming components of the building as collected via the U.S. Department of Energy Asset Score Audit Template or equivalent; and
(4) Aggregate annual summary statistics for a whole Building, including annual average energy use intensity, ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager Energy Performance Ratings, California energy performance ratings, annual carbon dioxide emissions attributable to energy use in the building, and additional data consistent with State regulations implementing California Public Resources Code Section 25402.10.
(c) If a building owner believes that any information required to be reported or disclosed by this Chapter 20 includes confidential business information, the owner shall provide the information to the Director and shall notify the Director in writing of that belief, detailing the basis of the belief as to each specific item of information the person claims is confidential business information. For purposes of this Chapter, “confidential business information” shall have the same meaning as “trade secret” under California Civil Code Section 3426.1, as amended. The owner designating information as confidential business information shall also provide the Director with a name and street address for notification purposes and shall be responsible for updating such information. The Director shall not disclose any properly substantiated confidential business information which is so designated by an owner except as required by this Chapter or as otherwise permitted by law.
(d) Information designated as confidential may be disclosed to an officer or employee of the City and County of San Francisco, the City’s contractors or utilities, the State of California, or the United States for use in connection with the official duties of such officer or employee acting under authority of law, without liability on the part of the City.
(e) When the Director or other City official or employee receives a request for information that has been designated as, or which the City determines may be, confidential business information, the City shall notify the building owner of the request. The City may request further evidence or explanation from the owner as to why the information requested is confidential business information. If the City determines that the information does not constitute confidential business information, the City shall notify the owner of that conclusion and that the information will be released by a specified date in order to provide the owner the opportunity to obtain a court order prohibiting disclosure.
(f) In adopting this Chapter 20, the Board of Supervisors does not intend to authorize or require the disclosure to the public of any confidential business information protected under the laws of the State of California.
(g) This Section 2005 is not intended to empower a person or business to refuse to disclose any information, including but not limited to confidential business information, to the Director as required under this Chapter 20.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, any officer or employee of the City and County of San Francisco, 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 or has had access to information, the disclosure of which is prohibited by this Section 2005, and who, knowing that disclosure of the information is prohibited, knowingly and willfully discloses the information in any manner to any person or business not entitled to receive it, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.