May 19, 2011

Ms. Sharon Alexander

Associate General Counsel

Texas Department of Transportation

125 East 11^th Street

Austin, Texas 78701-2483

OR2011-07096

Dear Ms. Alexander:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 418034.

The Texas Department of Transportation (the "department") received a request for the legal application made by three named individuals to SH-130 Concession Co. for assistance with relocation expenses and assistance with the purchase of new homesteads, all supporting documentation and evidence of one named individual's claims for relocation expenses and financial assistance in the purchase of a new homestead, and all financial statements submitted by the three named individuals with regard to their application. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. We have also received and considered comments from the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.304 (interested party may submit comments stating why information should or should not be released).

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Id. § 552.101. This exception encompasses information other statutes make confidential. In addition, a federal regulation enacted pursuant to statutory authority can provide statutory confidentiality for purposes of section 552.101 of the Act. See Open Records Decision No. 599 at 4 (1992). You raise section 552.101 in conjunction with part 24 of title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which implements the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, and pertains to relocation assistance and real property acquisition for federal and federally-assisted programs. Section 24.9 of title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations states, in part:

(a) Records. The Agency shall maintain adequate records of its acquisition and displacement activities in sufficient detail to demonstrate compliance with this part. These records shall be retained for at least 3 years after each owner of a property and each person displaced from the property receives the final payment to which he or she is entitled under this part, or in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Federal funding Agency, whichever is later.

(b) Confidentiality of records. Records maintained by an Agency in accordance with this part are confidential regarding their use as public information, unless applicable law provides otherwise.

49 C.F.R. § 24.9(a)-(b). You assert the department is an "agency" as understood by this section. "Agency" means a federal agency, state, state agency, or a person that acquires real property or displaces a person from property. See id. § 24.2(a)(1). You state the submitted information consists of acquisition and displacement records maintained by the department. You inform us the department is required "to maintain adequate records of its acquisition and displacement activities in sufficient detail to demonstrate compliance with part 24." You further state the submitted information is maintained by the department in accordance with part 24 of title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Based upon your representations and our review, we agree the submitted information is confidential under section 24.9(b) of title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Kate Hartfield

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

KH/em

Ref: ID# 418034

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB: WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer