Introduced By: Representatives Benoit, Henseler, Moura, Costantino and Ajello
Date Introduced : February 2, 1999
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 23-1 of the General Laws entitled "Department of Health" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:
{ADD 23-1-50. Public Records -- Exemption -- Requirements. -- ADD} {ADD (a) The Department of Health shall deem all application filings for certification, recertification, and material modification, and correspondence directly related thereto {ADD, ADD} submitted under the provisions of Chapter 23-17.12, 23-17.13 and 27-41 to be "public records" as defined in the "Access to Public Records Act" Chapter 38-2. Entities or agents certified under one or more of the aforementioned statutes may request that certain portions of their application filings {ADD, ADD} or correspondence directly related thereto {ADD, ADD} be regarded as exempt from public disclosure, but may do so only by claiming one or more of the specific grounds delineated in section 38-2-2(4) of the Access to Public Records Act, Chapter 38-2. ADD}
{ADD (b) For each document or for each portion of a document requested
to be exempt from public disclosure, the certified {DEL agency DEL} {ADD entity or agent ADD} must
specify the specific exemption claimed and the rationale therefore.
Each specific exemption and the rationale therefor shall themselves
be public documents. The department shall determine which of
the documents, or parts thereof, for which an exemption is sought {ADD, ADD}
shall be public records and which shall be exempt from the disclosure
required by Chapter 38-2. ADD}
{ADD (c) Each application filing for certification, recertification, or material modification submitted under the provisions of chapters 23-17.12, 23-17.13, and 27-41, and for which an exemption is sought, shall be made in three parts; ADD}
(1) {ADD Part One shall be a complete application filing with no materials to be deleted. This part shall be for the official use of the department as appropriate. ADD}
(2) {ADD Part Two shall be a complete application filing, except that it shall not include those parts of the application filing which the filing party has claimed and the department determined to be exempt from the disclosure required by Chapter 38-2. ADD}
{ADD (3) Part Three of the application filing shall include those items and information requested to be excluded from the disclosure required by Chapter 38-2 with a delineation of the specific exemption and criteria claimed under section 38-2-2-(4) and the application filing's rationale for each specific exemption claimed. ADD}
{ADD (d) All application filings for certification, recertification, or material modification submitted under the provisions of 23-17.12, 23-17.13, or 27-41, that are not made consistent with the three-part form described herein, shall, except as otherwise prohibited by state or federal law, be deemed to be "public records" under the provisions of Chapter 38-2. ADD}
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
