The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
(Cite as: 5 V.S.A. § 3452)
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§ 3452. Disclosure of information
(a) When requested to do so by the Board or the Agency, a railroad operating in this State
shall furnish the Board or Agency any information specifically requested concerning
the management of the railroad and the condition of its equipment and facilities,
provided that the request shall extend only to information reasonably related to the
railroad’s operations in this State and provided further that the Board and the Agency
shall have no right to request information regarding salaries, pensions, options,
or benefit programs or the expenses of officers or directors of railroads incorporated
outside the United States.
(b) Any information provided by a railroad to the Board or Agency on the following subjects,
whether pursuant to this section or otherwise, shall be confidential and shall not
be disclosed by the Board or the Agency except as provided in subsection (c) of this
section:
(1) customer data;
(2) compensation and benefits for a railroad’s directors, officers, and employees;
(3) contracts, financial obligations, and financial standing; and
(4) proprietary data known only to certain individuals within a railroad’s organization
and that give the railroad the opportunity to obtain business advantage over competitors
who do not know it.
(c) Confidential information may be made public by the Board or the Agency only if the
Board first determines that the public good requires disclosure and that the disclosure
will not violate State or federal law. The Board shall give the railroad written notice
and shall afford the railroad an opportunity to be heard prior to making any determination
that disclosure should be made and shall make written findings of fact upon which
its determination is made.
(d) Nothing contained in this title or in any provision of Title 19 shall be construed
to require a railroad to produce an investigatory report or other information that
was prepared by a railroad, its agents, or its employees at the request or direction
of a railroad’s attorney, nor shall anything contained in this title or any provision
of Title 19 be construed to abrogate the attorney-client privilege as is otherwise
provided by law. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 39(b), eff. March 1, 1961; 1961, No. 183, § 6; 1993, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 40.)