June 12, 2012

Mr. David C. Schulze

Interim General Counsel

Dallas Area Rapid Transit

P.O. Box 660163

Dallas, Texas 75266-0163

OR2012-09042

Dear Mr. Schulze:

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# 455946 (DART ORR 8910).

Dallas Area Rapid Transit ("DART") received a request for a specified bid. You state DART has released some of the requested information. You do not take a position as to whether the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under the Act. However, you state, and provide documentation showing, you notified MV Transportation, Inc. ("MV") of the request and of its right to submit arguments to this office as to why the requested information should not be released to the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); see also Open Records Decision No. 542 at 3 (1990) (statutory predecessor to section 552.305 permits governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception in the Act in 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 it should be withheld from disclosure. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d)(2)(B). As of the date of this letter, MV has not submitted to this office any reasons explaining why the requested information should not be released. We thus have no basis for concluding any portion of the submitted information constitutes proprietary information of that company, and DART may not withhold any portion of the submitted information on that basis. See Open Records Decision Nos. 661 at 5-6 (1999) (to prevent disclosure of commercial or financial information, party must show by specific factual evidence, not conclusory or generalized allegations, that release of requested information would cause that party substantial competitive harm), 552 at 5 (1990) (party must establish prima facie case that information is trade secret), 542 at 3.

We note the submitted information contains a bank account number that is subject to section 552.136 of the Government Code. ⁽¹⁾ Section 552.136 provides in part that "[n]otwithstanding any other provision of [the Act], a credit card, debit card, charge card, or access device number that is collected, assembled, or maintained by or for a governmental body is confidential." Gov't Code § 552.136(b); see id. § 552.136(a) (defining "access device"). Upon review, we find DART must withhold the bank account number we have marked under section 552.136 of the Government Code. As no further exceptions to disclosure have been raised, DART must release the remaining 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,

Nneka Kanu

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

NK/bhf

Ref: ID# 455946

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

GARY COLES

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT

MV TRANSPORATION, INCORPORATED

4620 WESTAMERICA DRIVE

FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA 94534

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. The Office of the Attorney General will raise a mandatory exception on behalf of a governmental body but ordinarily will not raise other exceptions. See Open Records Decision Nos. 481 (1987), 480 (1987), 470 (1987).

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