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The data you supply on this form will be used to assess your eligibility for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Produce Safety Program, Water Testing for Generic E. coli Mini-Grant. The decision to apply for this grant is voluntary, and applicants are not legally required to provide any of the requested information. Applicants may decline to complete this application without any legal consequence. However, only completed applications will be considered for a grant; incomplete applications will not be considered.

Data provided in this application is initially classified by the Minnesota Data Practices Act as private or nonpublic. Some or all of the data will become public at various points of the application process, as detailed below, unless the data are otherwise classified by state or federal law. Access to private or nonpublic data is limited by law to MDA staff and contractors with a valid work assignment to access the data, parties authorized by the applicant or by a valid court order, and other entities authorized by law. These include, but are not necessarily limited to, Minnesota Management and Budget, Minnesota Department of Administration, the state auditor, and the legislative auditor. If necessary, the MDA may also share the data with law enforcement and the Minnesota Office of the Attorney General.

Per Minnesota Statute 13.599:

• Names and addresses of grant applicants, and the grant amount requested, will be public data once all of the application responses are opened.
• All remaining data in the application responses (except trade secret information, see below) becomes public data after the evaluation process is completed and all grant agreements have been fully executed.
• All data created or maintained by the MDA as part of the evaluation process (except trade secret information, see below) will be public data after the evaluation process is completed and all grant agreements have been fully executed.
• Trade secret information (as defined in Minnesota Statute. § 13.37) is classified as nonpublic data. For an applicant to protect data submitted as part of this application as trade secret information, the applicant must, at a minimum:
  1. identify the specific formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process that applicant believes legally qualifies for trade secret classification;
  2. demonstrate that the information is subject to efforts by the applicant that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain the information’s secrecy; and
  3. provide an explanation of how the information derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use.
• Determining what constitutes trade secret information is ultimately the responsibility of the MDA, and the MDA cannot guarantee that data marked by an applicant as trade secret information or marked “confidential” will be classified as such. If the MDA determines that data does not meet the definition of trade secret information, that data will be available to the public unless the applicant secures a court order saying otherwise.