§ 49-1405 — Exception; disclosure required by court or administrative hearing official

A. A court or administrative hearing official with competent jurisdiction may require disclosure of a portion of an audit report in a civil or administrative proceeding if the court or administrative hearing official determines after an in camera review consistent with the appropriate rules of procedure that any of the following applies:

1. The privilege is asserted for a fraudulent purpose.

2. The portion of the audit report is not subject to the privilege under section 49-1406.

3. The portion of the audit report shows evidence of noncompliance with an environmental law and appropriate efforts to achieve compliance with the law were not promptly initiated and pursued with reasonable diligence after the discovery of the noncompliance.

B. A party seeking disclosure under this section has the burden of proving that subsection A of this section applies.

C. Notwithstanding any other law, a disclosure decision of an administrative hearing official under subsection A of this section is directly appealable to a court of competent jurisdiction without disclosure of the audit report to any person unless so ordered by the court.

D. A person claiming the privilege to avoid the requested disclosure of materials is subject to sanctions as prescribed by the Arizona rules of civil procedure or to a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars if the court finds, consistent with fundamental due process, that the person intentionally or knowingly claimed the privilege for nonprivileged materials as prescribed by section 49-1406.

E. A court determination under this section is subject to interlocutory appeal to an appropriate appellate court.