Iowa § 455K.3 - 455K.3 Privilege.

§ 455K.3. 455K.3 Privilege.

1. Material included in an environmental audit report generated during an environmental audit conducted after July 1, 1998, is privileged and confidential and is not discoverable or admissible as evidence in any civil or administrative proceeding, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. The environmental audit report shall be labeled “ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT REPORT: PRIVILEGED DOCUMENT”. Failure to label each document within the report does not constitute a waiver of the environmental audit privilege or create a presumption that the privilege does or does not apply. 2. A person shall not be compelled to testify in regard to or produce a document included in an environmental audit report in any of the following circumstances: a. If the testimony or document discloses any component listed in section 455K.2, subsection 3, that was made as part of the preparation of an environmental audit report and that is addressed in a privileged part of an environmental audit report. b. If the person is any of the following: (1) A person who conducted any portion of the environmental audit but did not personally observe the physical events of an environmental violation. (2) A person to whom the results of the environmental audit report are disclosed under section 455K.4, subsection 2. (3) A custodian of the environmental audit report. 3. A person who conducts or participates in the preparation of an environmental audit report and who has observed physical events of an environmental violation may testify about those events but shall not be compelled to testify about or produce documents related to the preparation of or any privileged part of an environmental audit or any component listed in section 455K.2, subsection 3. 4. An employee of a state agency or other governmental employee shall not request, review, or otherwise use an environmental audit report during an agency inspection of a regulated facility or operation, or an activity of a regulated facility or operation. 5. A party asserting the privilege under this section has the burden of establishing the applicability of the privilege. 6. The privilege provided in this section is in addition to the privilege provided to assistance programs pursuant to section 455B.484A. 98 Acts, ch 1109, §3 Referred to in §455K.4, 455K.8 Fri Dec 12 20:43:33 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 455K.3 (17, 0)