Arizona Laws 49-205. Availability of information to the public
A. Any records, reports or information obtained from any person under this chapter, including records, reports or information obtained or prepared by the director or a department employee, shall be available to the public, except that:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 49-205
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- CERCLA: means the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, as amended (P. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Clean water act: means the federal water pollution control act amendments of 1972 (P. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Department: means the department of environmental quality. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Director: means the director of environmental quality or the director's designee. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Discharge: means the direct or indirect addition of any pollutant to the waters of the state from a facility. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Environment: means WOTUS, any other surface waters, groundwater, drinking water supply, land surface or subsurface strata or ambient air, within or bordering on this state. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Permit: means a written authorization issued by the director or prescribed by this chapter or in a rule adopted under this chapter stating the conditions and restrictions governing a discharge or governing the construction, operation or modification of a facility. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Person: means an individual, employee, officer, managing body, trust, firm, joint stock company, consortium, public or private corporation, including a government corporation, partnership, association or state, a political subdivision of this state, a commission, the United States government or any federal facility, interstate body or other entity. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Pollutant: means fluids, contaminants, toxic wastes, toxic pollutants, dredged spoil, solid waste, substances and chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, petroleum products, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and mining, industrial, municipal and agricultural wastes or any other liquid, solid, gaseous or hazardous substances. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
- Safe drinking water act: means the federal safe drinking water act, as amended (P. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
1. Income tax returns are confidential.
2. Drinking water system security vulnerability assessments that are submitted to the United States environmental protection agency, pursuant to Public Law 107-188, are exempt from disclosure under this chapter and Title 39, Chapter 1.
3. Other information, or a particular part of the information, shall be considered confidential on either:
(a) A showing, satisfactory to the director, by any person that the information, or a particular part of the information, if made public, would divulge the trade secrets of the person.
(b) A determination by the attorney general that disclosure of the information or a particular part of the information would be detrimental to an ongoing criminal investigation or to an ongoing or contemplated civil enforcement action under this chapter in superior court.
B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, the following information shall be available to the public:
1. The name and address of any permit applicant or permittee.
2. The chemical constituents, concentrations and amounts of any pollutant discharge.
3. The existence or level of a concentration of a pollutant in drinking water or in the environment.
C. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, and in addition to the information prescribed by subsection B of this section, the following information that is obtained by the department and that relates to discharges authorized by a permit issued under the program adopted pursuant to section 49-203, subsection A, paragraph 2 shall be made available to the public by the department:
1. Information required to be submitted in a permit application.
2. The frequency of the discharge.
3. The temperature and pH level of the discharge.
4. Other water quality characteristics that are required to be reported under the permit.
D. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, the director may disclose any records, reports or information obtained from any person under this chapter, including records, reports or information obtained by the director or department employees, to:
1. Other state employees concerned with administering this chapter or if the records, reports or information is relevant to any administrative or judicial proceeding under this chapter.
2. Employees of the United States environmental protection agency if such information is necessary or required to administer and implement or comply with the clean water act, the safe drinking water act, CERCLA or provisions and regulations relating to those acts.