16 U.S.C. § 470aa — Congressional findings and declaration of purpose

submitted 47 years ago by Pub. L. 96-95 to r/title-16-CONSERVATION · 162 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

Congress says archaeological sites on public and Indian lands are a precious, disappearing part of the nation's history, and current laws don't protect them well enough. This law's goal is to protect those sites while also encouraging people with legally-obtained artifacts to share them with archaeologists.

(a) Congress makes four findings. (1) Archaeological resources on public lands and Indian lands are an accessible and irreplaceable part of the nation's heritage. (2) These resources are increasingly at risk because people want to sell them. (3) Current federal laws don't adequately stop the loss and destruction of these resources from illegal digging and looting. (4) Private individuals have legally gathered a lot of archaeological information for non-commercial purposes, and this information could voluntarily be shared with professional archaeologists and institutions. (b) The purpose of this chapter is to protect archaeological resources and sites on public lands and Indian lands, for the benefit of people today and in the future, and to build more cooperation and information-sharing between government agencies, professional archaeologists, and private individuals who collected archaeological resources and data before October 31, 1979.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a)

The Congress finds that—

(1)

archaeological resources on public lands and Indian lands are an accessible and irreplaceable part of the Nation’s heritage;

(2)

these resources are increasingly endangered because of their commercial attractiveness;

(3)

existing Federal laws do not provide adequate protection to prevent the loss and destruction of these archaeological resources and sites resulting from uncontrolled excavations and pillage; and

(4)

there is a wealth of archaeological information which has been legally obtained by private individuals for noncommercial purposes and which could voluntarily be made available to professional archaeologists and institutions.

(b)

The purpose of this chapter is to secure, for the present and future benefit of the American people, the protection of archaeological resources and sites which are on public lands and Indian lands, and to foster increased cooperation and exchange of information between governmental authorities, the professional archaeological community, and private individuals having collections of archaeological resources and data which were obtained before October 31, 1979.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 96–95, § 2, Oct. 31, 1979, 93 Stat. 721.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1979Enacted · Pub. L. 96-95 · 93 Stat. 721

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 96-95 on 1979-10-31.

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