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The Director of Health through the Health Commission shall recommend to the Board of Supervisors appropriate fees sufficient to pay for but not exceed the costs incurred in administering this Article. Such fees shall be set, collected, reviewed and administered in accordance with Sections 1175.1 through 1175.5 of Article 21 of this Code.
(Added by Ord. 399- 97, App. 10/17/97)
(a) If a stationary source believes that any information submitted or otherwise provided to the Department pursuant to this Article involves the release of a trade secret, the stationary source shall provide the information to the Department and shall notify the Department in writing of that belief. Upon receipt of a claim of trade secret related to an RMP, the Department shall review the claim and shall segregate properly substantiated trade secret information from information which shall be made available to the public upon request in accordance with the California Public Records Act. The Department shall not disclose any properly substantiated trade secret which is so designated by a stationary source except in compliance with this Section and Section 25538 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) Information certified by appropriate officials of the United States, as necessarily kept secret for national defense purposes, shall be accorded the full protection against disclosure as specified by such official or in accordance with the laws of the United States.
(c) The location of explosives stored by the San Francisco Police Department and other law enforcement or government agencies shall not be disclosed.
(d) Information designated as a trade secret may be disclosed to:
(1) An officer or employee of the City and County of San Francisco, the State of California or the United States of America, for use in connection with the official duties of such officer or employee acting under authority of law for the protection of health;
(2) Persons or businesses contracting with the City and County and their employees if, in the opinion of the Director of Health, such disclosure is necessary and required for the satisfactory performance of the work to be done under the contract or to protect the health and safety of the employees of the contractor;
(3) Any physician where the physician certifies in writing to the Director of Health that such information is necessary to the medical treatment of a patient; where the Director determines that a medical emergency exists, the Director may waive the written certification; or
(4) Health professionals (i.e., physician, industrial hygienist, toxicologist, epidemiologist, or occupational health nurse) in a nonemergency situation where the request is in writing and the request describes in reasonable detail the medical need for the information.
(e) (1) When the Director receives a request for information which includes information which the stationary source has designated as a trade secret, the Director shall notify the stationary source of said request by certified mail. The stationary source shall have 30 days from receipt of the notice to provide the Director with any materials or information intended to supplement the information submitted pursuant to Subsection (a) and needed to substantiate the trade secret claim.
(2) The Director shall inform the stationary source by certified mail that some or all of a claim of trade secret has not been substantiated. The Director shall release the information 30 days after receipt by the stationary source of said notice, unless prior to the expiration of said 30-day period, the stationary source files an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for a declaratory judgment that the information is subject to protection under Subsection (b) as a trade secret, or for an injunction prohibiting disclosure of said information to the general public, and promptly notifies the Director of that action.
(f) In adopting this Article, the Board of Supervisors does not intend to authorize or require the disclosure to the public of any trade secrets protected under the laws of the State of California.
(g) This Section is not intended to authorize a stationary source to refuse to disclose any information, including but not limited to, trade secrets, required pursuant to this Article.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, any officer or employee of the City and County, 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 of or has had access to information, the disclosure of which is prohibited by this Section, and who knowing that disclosure of the information is prohibited, knowingly and wilfully discloses the information in any manner to any person not entitled to receive it, shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by both fine and imprisonment.
(i) The Director of Health shall advise any person to whom a trade secret is disclosed pursuant to this Section that the disclosure thereof, except as authorized by this Section, constitutes a misdemeanor.
(Added by Ord. 399-97, App. 10/17/97)
(a) The Director may adopt and thereafter, from time to time, may amend rules, regulations and guidelines implementing the provisions and intent of this Article. Before issuing or amending any such procedure, the Department of Public Health shall provide a 30-day public comment period by providing published notice in an official newspaper of general circulation in the City of the intent to issue or amend the procedure. Rules and regulations shall be approved by the Health Commission at a public hearing. In addition to the notices required by law, the Secretary of the Health Commission shall send written notice, at least 15 days prior to the hearing, to any interested party who sends a written request to the Health Commission for notice of hearings on hazardous materials regulation.
(b) Regulations promulgated by the Director and approved by the Health Commission shall be maintained in the Office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.
(c) The Director may require generators to submit information deemed necessary by the Director, including, but not limited to: the name and address of the generator, the name and address of the property owner, and a description of the type and volume of hazardous materials handled or stored.
(Added by Ord. 399-97, App. 10/17/97)
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Article is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the Article. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed this Article and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of this Article would be subsequently invalid or unconstitutional.
(Added by Ord. 399-97, App. 10/17/97)
(a) The degree of protection required by this Article is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes. The standards set forth in this Article are minimal standards and do not imply that compliance will ensure no unauthorized release of hazardous materials. This Article shall not create liability on the part of the City, or any of its officers or employees for any damages that result from reliance on this Article or any administrative decision lawfully made pursuant to this Article. All persons handling hazardous materials within the City should be and are advised to determine to their own satisfaction the level of protection desirable to ensure no unauthorized release of hazardous materials.
(b) In undertaking this program to obtain disclosure of information relating to the location and handling of hazardous materials, the City and County of San Francisco is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(c) All inspections specified or authorized by this Article shall be at the discretion of the City and nothing in this Article shall be construed as requiring the City to conduct any such inspection nor shall any actual inspection made imply a duty to conduct any other inspection.
(Added by Ord. 399-97, App. 10/17/97)
Subject to the limitations of due process and applicable requirements of State or federal law, and notwithstanding any other provision of this Code whenever the words "shall" or "must" are used in establishing a responsibility or duty of the City, its elected or appointed officers, employees, or agents, it is the legislative intent that such words establish a discretionary responsibility or duty requiring the exercise of judgment and discretion.
(Added by Ord. 399-97, App. 10/17/97)