April 13, 2012

Mr. Jesse Blakley, Jr.

Assistant District Attorney

Brazoria County

111 East Locust, Suite 408A

Angleton, Texas 77515

OR2012-05320

Dear Mr. Blakley:

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# 450906.

The Brazoria County Environmental Health Department (the "county") received a request for a specified set of design drawings, calculation sheets, and permit. Although you take no position on the public availability of the submitted information, you state the information at issue may implicate the interests of an interested third party. Accordingly, you notified the interested third party of the request for information and its right to submit arguments to this office as to why the submitted information should not be released. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d) (permitting interested third party to submit to attorney general reasons why requested information should not be released); Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (statutory predecessor to section 552.305 permitted governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception to disclosure under certain circumstances). We have reviewed the submitted information.

An interested third party is allowed ten business days after the date of its receipt of the governmental body's notice under section 552.305(d) to submit its reasons, if any, as to why requested information relating to that party should be withheld from disclosure. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d)(2)(B). As of the date of this letter, the notified third party has not submitted any comments to this office explaining how release of the submitted information would affect its proprietary interests. Accordingly, the county may not withhold any of the submitted information on the basis of the proprietary interests of the notified third party. See id. § 552.110; Open Records Decision Nos. 661 at 5-6 (1999) (stating business enterprise claiming exception for commercial or financial information under section 552.110(b) must show by specific factual evidence release of requested information would cause that party substantial competitive harm), 552 at 5 (1990) (party must establish prima facie case information is trade secret). As no exceptions to disclosure are raised, the county must release the submitted information to the requestor.

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,

Ana Carolina Vieira

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

ACV/ag

Ref: ID# 450906

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Mr. Michael Scanlon

P.O. Box 58825

Houston, Texas 77258

(w/o enclosures)

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