(a) General. This section governs requests for exemptions from filing of the report required under § 369.1.

(b) Criteria. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) may grant a request upon a proper showing that the exemption is necessary to preserve confidential business information that is not otherwise publicly available. Information is considered to be confidential when:

(1) Disclosure of the information in the carrier's report would be likely to cause substantial harm to the carrier's competitive position; or

(2) Disclosure of information in the report would be likely to impair protectable government interests.

(c) Contents of a request. The contents of a request for an exemption from filing must contain, at a minimum, the contents that are required for a request for an exemption from public release contained in § 369.9(c). A carrier's request may include any other grounds as to why the request should be granted.

(d) When requests are due. The timing of a request for an exemption from filing is the same as the timing for a request for an exemption from public release contained in § 369.9(d). For Annual Form M, both the report and the request are due by March 31 of the year following the year to which it relates.

(e) Decision to grant or deny a request. (1) A request will be denied if it fails to provide all of the supporting information required in paragraph (c) of this section or if the supporting information is insufficient to establish that information in the carrier's report meets the criteria in paragraph (b) of this section.

(2) FMCSA will grant or deny each request within a reasonable period of time. FMCSA will notify the carrier of its decision. The decision by FMCSA shall be administratively final.

(f) Pendency. While a request is pending, the carrier is required to submit any reports required under § 369.1.

(g) Period of exemptions. If a request for an exemption under this section is granted, the carrier will be exempt from the reporting requirements of § 369.1 for a period of three reporting years.

(h) Modification of a decision to grant a request. If a request is granted it remains in effect in accordance with its terms, unless modified by a later finding that the decision was clearly erroneous. If FMCSA believes such a finding should be made, FMCSA will notify the requesting carrier in writing of the reasons for the modification. The carrier may seek reconsideration of the modification.