Section 148(h)(4) of title 23 provides that data compiled or collected for the preparation of the HSIP Report "...shall not be subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in a Federal or State court proceeding or considered for other purposes in an action for damages arising from any occurrence at a location identified or addressed in [such] reports..." This information may also be protected under 23 U.S.C. 409 (discovery and admission as evidence of certain reports and surveys). The protection afforded under Sections 148(h)(4) and 409 does not provide an outright bar to litigation. It is an evidentiary privilege that must be affirmatively asserted by the party against whom discovery is sought or evidence is offered. Neither provision excuses FHWA from fulfilling the statutory requirements of the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended.