(a) All solicited and unsolicited proposals received by the responsible public entity pursuant to § 54-6-106, and any documents used by the responsible public entity to evaluate and accept or reject the proposals, shall remain confidential and not subject to disclosure to any proposer, affected jurisdiction, or to the public under § 10-7-503 or other law until after the responsible public entity selects a proposal to enter into a public-private initiative; except, that, at all times under this chapter, proprietary information and all solicited and unsolicited proposals that are withdrawn by a private entity shall remain confidential and not subject to disclosure to any proposer, affected jurisdiction, or to the public pursuant to this subsection (a), § 10-7-503, or any other law.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 54-6-107
Affected jurisdiction: means any county or municipality in which all or a portion of a qualifying transportation facility is located. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Private entity: means any natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, or other private business entity. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
Public-private initiative: means a contractual arrangement between the responsible public entity and one (1) or more private entities, the terms of which are stated in a public-private agreement, that provides for: (A) Acceptance of a private equity contribution, including a money payment, for the right to develop, redevelop, or operate a project or to provide service for a qualified transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
Responsible public entity: means a public entity that has the power to develop, redevelop, or operate the applicable transportation facility. See Tennessee Code 54-6-102
(b)(1) A private entity may request a review, prior to submission of a solicited or unsolicited proposal, by the responsible public entity of information that the private entity has identified as proprietary.(2) A private entity may identify proprietary information submitted as part of a solicited or unsolicited proposal. A private entity shall have an opportunity to object to the release of any information it identifies as proprietary.(3) The responsible public entity shall review any information identified as proprietary by a private entity as part of a solicited or unsolicited proposal and shall determine if such information is confidential under subsection (a).(4) The responsible public entity shall inform the private entity that submitted the information of its determination of whether information identified by the private entity as proprietary is confidential under subsection (a).(5) The private entity shall have the opportunity to object to the determination that the information is subject to disclosure or to amend or withdraw its proposal.(6) Any information determined by the responsible public entity to be proprietary shall be exempt from disclosure under § 10-7-503.
