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Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§5916 Central Source of Nonnuclear Energy Information

Title 42 › CHAPTER 74 — NONNUCLEAR ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT › § 5916

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must set up and keep a central source of information about all energy resources and technologies to support the research, development, and demonstration work under this chapter. When the Secretary needs it, the Secretary may buy, accept as a donation, or get such information from other Federal agencies. The information must be made available to the public and to other government agencies but must follow section 552 of Title 5 and section 1905 of Title 18. If a person shows the information would reveal trade secrets or other proprietary information, the Secretary must not disclose it and wrongful disclosure is punishable under section 1905 of Title 18. The Secretary must share information on request with delegates and with the Attorney General, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, the FTC, EPA, FERC, GAO, and other Federal agencies when needed to do their jobs, but those agencies must not release it to the public. Congress or a committee cannot be denied information when requested by the chairman or the ranking minority member.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §5916

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary shall promptly establish, develop, acquire, and maintain a central source of information on all energy resources and technology in furtherance of the research, development, and demonstration mission carried out directly or indirectly under this chapter. When the Secretary determines that such information is needed to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the Secretary may acquire proprietary and other information (a) by purchase through negotiation or by donation from any person, or (b) from another Federal agency. The information maintained by the Secretary shall be made available to the public, subject to the provisions of section 552 of title 5 and section 1905 of title 18, and to other Government agencies in a manner that will facilitate its dissemination: Provided, That upon a showing satisfactory to the Secretary by any person that any information, or portion thereof, obtained under this section by the Secretary directly or indirectly from such person, would, if made public, divulge (1) trade secrets or (2) other proprietary information of such person, the Secretary shall not disclose such information and disclosure thereof shall be punishable under section 1905 of title 18: Provided further, That the Secretary shall, upon request, provide such information to (A) any delegate of the Secretary for the purpose of carrying out this chapter, and (B) the Attorney General, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, the Federal Trade Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the Government Accountability Office, other Federal agencies, when necessary to carry out their duties and responsibilities under this chapter and other statutes, but such agencies and agency heads shall not release such information to the public. This section is not authority to withhold information from Congress or any committee of Congress upon request of the chairman or ranking minority member.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2005—Pub. L. 109–58, § 1009(b)(11)(A)–(C), (D)(ii), (E), substituted “Secretary shall” for “Administrator shall” wherever appearing, “research, development, and demonstration” for “Administrator’s research, development, and demonstration”, “Secretary determines” for “Administrator determines”, “the Secretary may acquire” for “he may acquire”, “Secretary by” for “Administrator by”, “Secretary directly” for “Administrator directly”, “Secretary for” for “Administrator for”, “the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission” for “the Federal Power Commission,”, and “Government Accountability Office” for “General Accounting Office”, struck out “the Federal Energy Administration,” after “the Federal Trade Commission,”, and inserted “or ranking minority member” before period at end. Pub. L. 109–58, § 1009(b)(11)(D)(i), which directed the substitution of “section 1905 of title 18” for “section 1905 or title 18”, could not be executed because “section 1905 or title 18” does not appear in text.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 5916

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110