Arizona Revised Statutes Title 49. The Environment § 49-1404. Exception; waiver; violation; classification

A. The privilege prescribed in § 49-1403 does not apply to the extent the privilege is expressly waived by the owner or operator who prepared the audit report or caused the report to be prepared.

B. Disclosure of an audit report or any information generated by an environmental audit does not waive the privilege established by § 49-1403, if the disclosure complies with any of the following:

C. A party to a confidentiality agreement described in subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section who violates that agreement is liable for damages caused by the disclosure and for any other penalties prescribed in the confidentiality agreement.

D. Information that is disclosed under subsection B, paragraph 3 of this section is confidential and is not subject to disclosure. An entity, employee or official of this state who discloses information in violation of this subsection is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor. It is an affirmative defense to the clerical dissemination of a privileged audit report that the report was not clearly labeled “compliance report: privileged document” or labeled with words of similar import as prescribed by § 49-1402. The lack of labeling may not be raised as a defense if the entity, employee or official knew or had reason to know that the document was a privileged audit report.

E. This section shall not be construed to circumvent the protections provided by federal or state law for individuals who disclose information to law enforcement authorities.