[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 24, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 24CFR15.108]

[Page 180-181]
 
                 TITLE 24--HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
 
PART 15_PUBLIC ACCESS TO HUD RECORDS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 
 
                Subpart B_FOIA Disclosure of Information
 
Sec. 15.108  What are HUD's policies concerning designating confidential 

commercial or financial information under Exemption 4 of the FOIA and 
responding to requests for business information?

    (a) HUD's general policy concerning business information which may 
be considered as confidential commercial or financial information. 
Except as provided in this section or otherwise required by law, HUD 
officers and employees may not disclose business information which is 
considered as confidential commercial or financial information to anyone 
other than to HUD officers or employees who are properly entitled to the 
information to perform their official duties.
    (b) How does a submitter make a claim that business information is 
confidential commercial or financial information? (1) If you are a 
submitter, you may request confidential treatment of business 
information at the time the information is submitted to HUD or within a 
reasonable time after it is submitted.
    (2) To obtain a designation of confidentiality, you must:
    (i) Support your request with an authorized statement or a 
certification giving the facts and the legal justification for your 
request and stating that the information has not been made public; and
    (ii) Clearly designate the information that you consider 
confidential.
    (3) Your designation of confidentiality will expire 10 years after 
the date the information was submitted to HUD, unless you have provided 
a reasonable explanation for a later expiration date.

[[Page 181]]

    (c) How will HUD respond to a request for business information? If 
the information requested has been designated in good faith by the 
submitter as information to be protected under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) 
(``Exemption 4'') or if HUD has reason to believe that the information 
may be protected by Exemption 4, HUD shall:
    (1) Unless an exception in paragraph (c)(2) of this section applies, 
promptly notify the submitter about the request or the administrative 
appeal and give the submitter 10 working days to submit a written 
objection to disclosure. HUD will describe the requested business 
information or will provide copies of all or a portion of the records;
    (2) If any of the following circumstances apply, HUD will not notify 
the submitter:
    (i) HUD determines that the information should not be disclosed;
    (ii) The information has been published lawfully or has been made 
available officially to the public;
    (3) A law other than FOIA requires HUD to disclose the information;
    (4) A HUD regulation requires HUD to disclose the information. The 
regulation must:
    (i) Have been adopted pursuant to notice and public comment; and
    (ii) Specify narrow classes of records submitted to HUD that are to 
be released under the FOIA.
    (d) Notice to requester. At the same time HUD notifies the 
submitter, HUD will also notify the requester that the request is 
subject to the provisions of this section and that the submitter is 
being afforded an opportunity to object to disclosure of the 
information.
    (e) Opportunity to object to disclosure. If the submitter timely 
objects to disclosure, HUD will consider the submitter's objections, but 
will not be bound by them. HUD generally will not consider conclusory 
statements that particular information would be useful to competitors or 
would impair sales, or other similar statements, sufficient to justify 
confidential treatment. Information provided by a submitter or its 
designee may itself be subject to disclosure under the FOIA.
    (f) Notice of intent to disclose. If after considering the 
submitter's objections, HUD decides to disclose business information 
over the objection of a submitter, HUD will send a written notice of 
intent to disclose to both the submitter and the requester. HUD will 
send these notices at least 10 working days before the specified 
disclosure date. The notices will include:
    (1) A statement of the reasons why HUD rejected the submitter's 
disclosure objections;
    (2) A description of the business information to be disclosed; and
    (3) A disclosure date.
    (g) What other policies apply to a submitter?
    (1) HUD notice of FOIA lawsuit. HUD will promptly notify the 
submitter of any suit to compel HUD to disclose business information.
    (2) Determination of confidentiality. HUD will not determine the 
validity of any request for confidentiality until HUD receives a request 
for disclosure of the information.
    (3) Current mailing address for the submitter. Each submitter must 
give HUD a mailing address for receipt of any notices under this 
section, and must notify HUD of any change of address.