49 U.s.c. 14123

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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]

[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between

January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]

[CITE: 49USC14123]

TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION

SUBTITLE IV--INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION

PART B--MOTOR CARRIERS, WATER CARRIERS, BROKERS, AND FREIGHT FORWARDERS

CHAPTER 141--OPERATIONS OF CARRIERS

SUBCHAPTER II--REPORTS AND RECORDS

Sec. 14123. Financial reporting

(a) Reports.--

(1) Annual reports.--The Secretary shall require Class I and

Class II motor carriers to file with the Secretary annual financial

and safety reports, the form and substance of which shall be

prescribed by the Secretary; except that, at a minimum, such reports

shall include balance sheets and income statements.

(2) Other reports.--The Secretary may require motor carriers,

freight forwarders, brokers, lessors, and associations, or classes

of them as the Secretary may prescribe, to file quarterly, periodic,

or special reports with the Secretary and to respond to surveys

concerning their operations.

(b) Matters To Be Covered.--In determining the matters to be covered

by any reports to be filed under subsection (a), the Secretary shall

consider--

(1) safety needs;

(2) the need to preserve confidential business information and

trade secrets and prevent competitive harm;

(3) private sector, academic, and public use of information in

the reports; and

(4) the public interest.

(c) Exemptions.--

(1) From filing.--The Secretary may exempt upon good cause shown

any party from the financial reporting requirements of subsection

(a). Any request for such exemption must demonstrate, at a minimum,

that an exemption is required to avoid competitive harm and preserve

confidential business information that is not otherwise publicly

available.

(2) From public release.--

(A) In general.--The Secretary shall allow, upon request, a

filer of a report under subsection (a) that is not a publicly

held corporation or that is not subject to financial reporting

requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, an

exemption from the public release of such report.

(B) Procedure.--After a request under subparagraph (A) and

notice and opportunity for comment but in no event later than 90

days after the date of such request, the Secretary shall approve

such request if the Secretary finds that the exemption requested

is necessary to avoid competitive harm and to avoid the

disclosure of information that qualifies as a trade secret or

privileged or confidential information under section 552(b)(4)

of title 5.

(C) Use of data for internal dot purposes.--If an exemption

is granted under this paragraph, nothing shall prevent the

Secretary from using data from reports filed under this

subsection for internal purposes of the Department of

Transportation or including such data in aggregate industry

statistics released for publication if such inclusion would not

render the filer's data readily identifiable.

(D) Pending requests.--The Secretary shall not release

publicly the report of a carrier making a request under

subparagraph (A) while such request is pending.

(3) Period of exemptions.--Exemptions granted under this

subsection shall be for 3-year periods.

(d) Streamlining and Simplification.--The Secretary shall streamline

and simplify, to the maximum extent practicable, any reporting

requirements the Secretary imposes under this section.

(Added Pub. L. 104-88, title I, Sec. 103, Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 893;

amended Pub. L. 105-102, Sec. 2(11), Nov. 20, 1997, 111 Stat. 2205.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Pub. L. 105-102

This amends 49:14123(c)(2)(B) to correct a grammatical error.

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in

section 11145 of this title prior to the general amendment of this

subtitle by Pub. L. 104-88, Sec. 102(a).

Amendments

1997--Subsec. (c)(2)(B). Pub. L. 105-102 inserted ``in'' before ``no

event''.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 14303 of this title.