§374. Legislative provisions

1.  Purpose.  The people of this State benefit only when a protected site is systematically excavated, analyzed and interpreted by a qualified principal investigator.

[PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

2.  Permit procedure.  The procedure for obtaining a permit to excavate a protected site is as follows.

A. Any person, agency or institution desiring to excavate a protected site must submit a written application.   [PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

B. Application for a permit must be in the form of a letter and research proposal directed to the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and be accompanied by a copy of the preservation agreement attested by the Register of Deeds and the written permission of the landowner to proceed with the excavation. The landowner may give permission to excavate in the preservation agreement.   [PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

C. The permit to excavate must be cosigned by the Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and the Director of the State Museum, except for state-controlled lands where the permit also must be cosigned by the director of the agency with primary jurisdiction.   [PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

D. The application must state the nature and specific location of the artifacts, specimens and materials to be removed, the legal name and address of the person, agency or institution seeking authorization and the date or dates on which the artifacts, specimens or materials are to be removed.   [PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

E. Upon receipt of an application, the permittors may issue a written permit authorizing the excavation of the protected site for such term and upon such conditions as they consider reasonable and that are consistent with subsection 3.   [PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

[PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

3.  Permit conditions.  The conditions that may be imposed upon a permit are as follows.

A. In order to minimize damage to state-controlled lands and to artifacts, specimens or materials to be removed and in order to ensure the recording and preservation of significant data regarding those artifacts, specimens, materials or protected sites, the permit may set forth requirements or limitations regarding the methods and equipment to be employed in the removal, the procedures to be followed in documenting the removal and the report or reports, if any, to be submitted to officials or agencies of the State upon completion of the removal activities.   [PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

B. The permittors may require that an authorized representative of the State be present to witness and document the removal of artifacts, specimens or materials from state-controlled land.   [PL 1981, c. 55, §6 (NEW).]

C. The permit must clearly indicate the type of artifacts, specimens or materials to be removed, the location of the protected site, the time of the proposed removal activity or excavation, the legal name and address of the permittee and any other limitations and requirements that may be imposed by the permittors.   [PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

D. On excavations authorized by the permit process, the principal investigator should normally possess the minimum qualifications of a graduate degree in anthropology, archaeology or a related field, accompanied by institutional facilities to ensure proper conservation and curation of the artifacts, materials and specimens or extensive experience and demonstrated ability.   [PL 1981, c. 55, §6 (NEW).]

[PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

4.  Permit revocation.  All permittors, or their authorized representatives, may revoke or suspend a permit if there is evidence to indicate that the permittee has violated or exceeded the limitations of the permit, or if there is evidence to indicate that artifacts, materials or the protected site are being unnecessarily defaced, damaged or destroyed in the course of removal. Any willful violation of the provisions or limitations of a permit is grounds for immediate revocation of the permit and must be construed as unauthorized excavation.

[PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

5.  Permit possession.  The permit must be retained in the personal possession of the permittee during the course of removal activities and must be made available for inspection upon demand of any authorized representative of the State. Any person or persons engaged in excavation on a protected site who do not produce a valid permit upon demand of an authorized representative of the State are presumptively engaged in unauthorized excavation.

[PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 1969, c. 398 (NEW). PL 1981, c. 55, §6 (RPR). PL 1989, c. 700, §A113 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 89, §4 (AMD).