ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT OF 1970 * * § 205. Confidentiality of information (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), all information reported to or otherwise obtained by any person exercising authority under this title which contains or relates to a trade secret or other matter referred to in section 1905 of title 18, United States Code, shall be considered confidential for the purposes of that section, except that such information may be disclosed to other persons empowered to carry out this title solely for the purpose of carrying out this title or when relevant in any proceeding under this title. (b)(1) Any business enterprise subject to the reporting requirements under section 130.21(b) of the regulations of the Cost of Living Council in effect on January 11, 1973, shall make public any report (except for matter excluded in accordance with paragraph (2)) so required which covers a period during which that business enterprise charges a price of a substantial product which exceeds by more than 1.5 per centum the price lawfully in effect for such product on January 10, 1973, or on the date twelve months preceding the end of such period, whichever is later. As used in this subsection, the term "substantial product" means any single product or service which accounted for 5 per centum or more of the gross sales or revenues of a business enterprise in its most recent full fiscal year. (2) A business enterprise may exclude from any report made public pursuant to paragraph (1) any information or data reported to the Cost of Living Council, proprietary in nature, which concerns or relates to the amount of sources of its income, profits, losses, costs, or expenditures but may not exclude from such report, data, or information, so reported, which concerns or relates to its prices for goods and services. (3) Immediately upon enactment of this subsection, the President or his delegate shall issue regulations defining for the purpose of this subsection what information or data are proprietary in nature and therefore excludable under paragraph (2), except that such regulations may not define as excludable any information or data which cannot currently be excluded from public annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by a business enterprise exclusively engaged in the manufacture or sale of a substantial product as defined in paragraph (1). Such regulations shall define as excludable any information or data which concerns or relates to the trade secrets, processes, operations, style of work, or apparatus of the business enterprise. § 206. Subpena power The head of an agency excercising authority under this title, or his duly authorized agent, shall have authority, for any purpose related to this title, to sign and issue subpenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and the production of relevant books, papers, and other documents, and to administer oaths. Witnesses summoned under the provisions of this section shall be paid the same fees and mileage as are paid to witnesses in the courts of the United States. In case of refusal to obey a subpena served upon any person under the provisions of this section, the head of the agency authorizing such subpena, or his delegate, may request the Attorney General to seek the aid of the district court of the United States for any district in which such person is found to compel such person, after notice, to appear and give testimony, or to appear and produce documents before the agency. § 207. Administrative procedure (a) The functions excercised under this title are excluded from the operation of subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, except as to the requirements of sections 552, 553, and 555(e) of title 5, United States Code. (b) Any agency authorized by the President to issue rules, regulations, or orders under this title shall, in regulations prescribed by it, establish procedures which are available to any person for the purpose of seeking an interpretation, modification, or rescission of, or seeking an exception or exemption from, such rules, regulations, and orders. If such person is aggrieved by the denial of a request for such action under the preceding sentence, he may request a review of such denial by the agency. The agency shall, in regulations prescribed by it, establish appropriate procedures, including hearings where deemed advisable, for considering such requests for action under this section. (c) To the maximum extent possible, the President or his delegate shall conduct formal hearings for the purpose of hearing arguments or acquiring information bearing on a change or a proposed change in wages, salaries, prices, rents, interest rates, or corporate dividends or similar transfers, which have or may have a significantly large impact upon the national economy, and such hearings shall be open to the public except that a private formal hearing may be conducted to receive information considered confidential under section 205 of this title: Provided, That such agency shall issue no order which has the effect of reducing wages, or salaries in effect, or proposed to be put into effect, in an appropriate employee unit unless such order is made on the record after opportunity for a hearing. Not less than thirty days after issuance of such an order a statement of explanation shall be directed to the affected parties and made available to the public. Such statement shall include a full explanation of the reasons why the existing wage or salary, or proposed wage or salary adjustment, does not meet the requirements of or the standards established by the regulations prescribed by the agency. § 208. Sanctions; criminal fine and civil penalty (a) Whoever willfully violates any order or regulation under this title shall be fined not more than $5,000 for each violation. (b) Whoever violates any order or regulation under this title shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $2,500 for each violation. |