U.S. Code » Title 7 » Chapter CHAPTER 55— DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

7 U.S.C. § 2276

Confidentiality of information

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(a) In generalIn the case of information furnished under a provision of law referred to in subsection (d), neither the Secretary of Agriculture, any other officer or employee of the Department of Agriculture or agency thereof, nor any other person may—(1) use such information for a purpose other than the development or reporting of aggregate data in a manner such that the identity of the person who supplied such information is not discernible and is not material to the intended uses of such information;(2) disclose such information to the public, unless such information has been transformed into a statistical or aggregate form that does not allow the identification of the person who supplied particular information; or(3) in the case of information collected under the authority described in paragraph (12) or (13) of subsection (d), disclose the information to any person or any Federal, State, local, or tribal agency outside the Department of Agriculture, unless the information has been converted into a statistical or aggregate form that does not allow the identification of the person that supplied particular information.(b) Duty of Secretary; immunity from disclosure; necessary consent(1) In carrying out a provision of law referred to in subsection (d), no department, agency, officer, or employee of the Federal Government, other than the Secretary of Agriculture, shall require a person to furnish a copy of statistical information provided to the Department of Agriculture.(2) A copy of such information—(A) shall be immune from mandatory disclosure of any type, including legal process; and(B) shall not, without the consent of such person, be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial or administrative proceeding.(c) Violations; penalties

Any person who shall publish, cause to be published, or otherwise publicly release information collected pursuant to a provision of law referred to in subsection (d), in any manner or for any purpose prohibited in section 11 So in original. Probably should be “subsection”. (a), shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.

(d) Provisions of law referencesFor purposes of this section, a provision of law referred to in this subsection means—(1) the first section of the Act entitled “An Act authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to collect and publish statistics of the grade and staple length of cotton”, approved March 3, 1927 (7 U.S.C. 471) (commonly referred to as the “Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act”);(2) the first section of the Act entitled “An Act to provide for the collection and publication of statistics of tobacco by the Department of Agriculture”, approved January 14, 1929 (7 U.S.C. 501);(3) the first section of the Act entitled “An Act to provide for the collection and publication of statistics of peanuts by the Department of Agriculture”, approved June 24, 1936 (7 U.S.C. 951);(4) section 203(g) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1622(g));(5) section 526(a) of the Revised Statutes (7 U.S.C. 2204(a));(6) the Act entitled “An Act providing for the publication of statistics relating to spirits of turpentine and resin”, approved August 15, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 2248);(7)section 42 of title 13;(8) section 4 of the Act entitled “An Act to establish the Department of Commerce and Labor”, approved February 14, 1903 (15 U.S.C. 1516);(9) section 2 of the joint resolution entitled “Joint resolution relating to the publication of economic and social statistics for Americans of Spanish origin or descent”, approved June 16, 1976 (15 U.S.C. 1516a);(10) section 3(e) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1642(e));(11)section 2204g of this title;(12) section 302 of the Rural Development Act of 1972 (7 U.S.C. 1010a) regarding the authority to collect data for the National Resources Inventory; or(13) section 10109 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.(e) Information provided to Secretary of Commerce

This section shall not prohibit the release of information under section 2204g(f)(2) of this title.

(Pub. L. 99–198, title XVII, § 1770, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1657; Pub. L. 105–113, § 4(a)(2), (b), Nov. 21, 1997, 111 Stat. 2276; Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(3) [title III, § 348], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A–207; Pub. L. 107–171, title II, § 2004(b), May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 236; Pub. L. 115–334, title X, § 10109(d), Dec. 20, 2018, 132 Stat. 4907.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

Section 10109 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, referred to in subsec. (d)(13), is section 10109 of Pub. L. 115–334, which relates to a multiple crop and pesticide use survey. Subsecs. (a) to (c) of section 10109 are not classified to the Code. Subsec. (d) of section 10109 amended this section.

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–334, § 10109(d)(1)(A), inserted heading.

Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 115–334, § 10109(d)(1)(B), substituted “paragraph (12) or (13) of subsection (d)” for “subsection (d)(12)”.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–334, § 10109(d)(2)(A), inserted heading.

Subsec. (d)(13). Pub. L. 115–334, § 10109(d)(2)(B)–(D), added par. (13).

2002—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 107–171, § 2004(b)(1), added par. (3).

Subsec. (d)(12). Pub. L. 107–171, § 2004(b)(2), added par. (12).

1999—Subsec. (d)(10), (11). Pub. L. 106–113 added par. (10) and redesignated former par. (10) as (11).

1997—Subsec. (d)(10). Pub. L. 105–113, § 4(a)(2), added par. (10).

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105–113, § 4(b), added subsec. (e).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8 cases, 1990–2015 · leading case: Chesapeake Bay Found., Inc. v. United States Dep't of Agric., 11 F.3d 211 (D.C. Cir. 1994).
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Chesapeake Bay Found., Inc. v. United States Dep't of Agric., 11 F.3d 211 (D.C. Cir. 1994). · cites it 5× “See 7 U.S.C. § 2276 (a) (1988). However, USDA officials offered to seek waivers from the state agencies that had provided the survey data if CBF would pay the postage to mail the waiver requests.”
Chesapeake Bay Found., Inc. v. Dep't of Agric., 108 F.3d 375 (D.C. Cir. 1997). · cites it 7× “The Foundation initially made an informal request for the data, but USDA responded that 7 U.S.C. § 2276 (a)(2) (1994), which provides that USDA may not disclose certain information furnished to it “unless such information has been transformed into a statistical or aggregate form…”
Strunk v. United States Dep't of the Interior, 752 F. Supp. 2d 39 (D.D.C. 2010). · cites it 6× “The declarant explains that, under 7 U.S.C. § 2276 , certain categories of information, including information “collected as part of the Census on Agriculture as well as the more general authority to collect statistical information regarding agriculture,” cannot be released to…”
Env't Integrity Proj. v. McCarthy, 139 F. Supp. 3d 25 (D.D.C. 2015). “” See 7 U.S.C. § 2276 (a). At the time the proposed rule was promulgated, the EPA accordingly used publicly available aggregate data from the USDA to estimate details about the CAFO universe, but could not obtain from the USDA facility-specific data.”
Chesapeake Bay Found., Inc. v. United States Dep't of Agric., 917 F. Supp. 64 (D.D.C. 1996). · cites it 2× “Specifically, defendant claimed the Food Security Act, 7 U.S.C. § 2276 , prohibited disclosure because the data would reveal the identities of the public agencies who provided the information.”
Chesapeake Bay Found., Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Agric., 785 F. Supp. 1030 (D.D.C. 1992). “Plaintiff appealed and on October 31, 1988 the USDA affirmed the denial, asserting that the information was exempt from disclosure under 7 U.S.C. § 2276 . The parties also entered into negotiations concerning a possible effort to obtain consent from the state agencies to…”
T.L. James & Co. v. Odom, 558 So. 2d 1209 (La. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 3× “The Commissioner appeals citing as error the failure of the trial court to find that the data requested is required to be kept confidential by 7 U.S.C. § 2276 , and the granting of $4500 in attorney fees and costs of the proceeding.”
Strunk v. U.S. Dep't of Interior (D.D.C. 2010). · cites it 6× “The declarant explains that, under 7 U.S.C. § 2276 , certain categories of inforrnation, including information "collected as part of the Census on Agriculture as well as the more general authority to collect statistical information regarding agriculture," cannot be released to…”
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