(A) The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) shall serve as the statewide, central repository for log information submitted electronically in real time to the data collection system pursuant to § 44-53-398(D)(2) and transferred to SLED in order to monitor the sales and purchases of nonprescription products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine. SLED shall maintain the information received from the data collection system in SLED’s electronic monitoring system and must not be charged any vendor or other fees associated with the requirements of this chapter.

(B) The data collection system upon which SLED’s electronic monitoring system is based must have the capability to:

(1) calculate state and federal sales and purchase limitations for ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine;

(2) match similar purchaser identification information;

(3) alert retailers of potential illegal sales and purchases;

(4) allow a retailer to override an alert of a potential illegal sale or purchase;

(5) receive ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine sales data from retailers in the format in which the data was submitted so that retailers are not required to use any one particular vendor’s product to comply with the requirements of this section and § 44-53-398(D)(2); and

(6) interface with existing and future operational systems used by pharmacies at no cost to these pharmacies.

(C) The data transmitted to the data collection system must be recorded in real time and the storage of this data must be housed by an information technology company operating under strict security standards that only may be accessed by local, state, or federal law enforcement authorized by SLED.

(D)(1) No fee may be charged to retailers for access to the data collection system to which information is required to be transmitted pursuant to § 44-53-398(D)(2), and no other fee or assessment may be imposed on retailers to fund program operations.

(2) No fee may be charged to local, state, or federal law enforcement officers or entities for access to or retention, analysis, or use of information in the system concerning sales and purchases of nonprescription ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine that violate or potentially violate subsection 44-53-398(B)(1) or (2).

(E) The information in SLED’s electronic monitoring system is confidential and not a public record as defined in § 30-4-20(C) of the Freedom of Information Act. SLED only shall provide access to information maintained in the monitoring system to:

(1) a local, state, or federal law enforcement official, a state attorney, or a United States attorney;

(2) a local, state, or federal official who requests access to the monitoring system for the purpose of facilitating a product recall necessary for the protection of the public health and safety; and

(3) the Board of Pharmacy for the purpose of investigating misconduct or a suspicious transaction committed by a retailer, a pharmacist, or an employee or agent of a pharmacy.

(F) For purposes of this section "retailer" means a retail distributor, including a pharmacy, where ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine products are available for sale and does not include an employee or agent of a retailer.

(G) The division shall promulgate regulations necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this section.

(H) Nothing in this chapter prohibits SLED or any retailer from participating in other data submission, collection, or monitoring systems that monitor the sales and purchases of nonprescription products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine.