16 U.S.C. § 470aaa–5 — Prohibited acts; criminal penalties
submitted 17 years ago by Pub. L. 111-11 to r/title-16-CONSERVATION · 317 words · no verdicts yet
It's illegal to dig up, damage, sell, or falsely label fossils taken from federal land without following this chapter. Violators face fines and up to 5 years in prison, or 2 years if the value involved is $500 or less. Repeat offenses can mean doubled fines.
(a) In general, a person may not: (1) dig up, remove, damage, deface, or attempt to do any of these to a paleontological resource on federal land, unless it's done following this chapter; (2) exchange, transport, export, receive, or offer to do any of these with a resource the person knew or should have known was taken from federal land in violation of any law, rule, regulation, or permit, including this chapter; or (3) sell, buy, or offer to sell or buy a resource the person knew or should have known was taken, sold, bought, exchanged, transported, or received from federal land unlawfully.
(b) False labeling offenses. A person may not create or submit a false record, account, label, or identification for a resource taken from federal land.
(c) Penalties. A person who knowingly violates (a) or (b), or gets someone else to, can be fined under title 18 or imprisoned up to 5 years, or both. But if the resource's combined commercial and scientific value plus the cost of restoring and repairing it is $500 or less, the maximum prison term drops to 2 years.
(d) Multiple offenses. For a second or later violation by the same person, the penalty under (c) may be doubled.
(e) General exception. Subsection (a) doesn't apply to anyone who lawfully possessed the resource before March 30, 2009.
A person may not—
excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface or attempt to excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface any paleontological resources located on Federal land unless such activity is conducted in accordance with this chapter;
exchange, transport, export, receive, or offer to exchange, transport, export, or receive any paleontological resource if the person knew or should have known such resource to have been excavated or removed from Federal land in violation of any provisions, rule, regulation, law, ordinance, or permit in effect under Federal law, including this chapter; or
sell or purchase or offer to sell or purchase any paleontological resource if the person knew or should have known such resource to have been excavated, removed, sold, purchased, exchanged, transported, or received from Federal land.
A person may not make or submit any false record, account, or label for, or any false identification of, any paleontological resource excavated or removed from Federal land.
A person who knowingly violates or counsels, procures, solicits, or employs another person to violate subsection (a) or (b) shall, upon conviction, be fined in accordance with title 18 or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both; but if the sum of the commercial and paleontological value of the paleontological resources involved and the cost of restoration and repair of such resources does not exceed $500, such person shall be fined in accordance with title 18 or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
In the case of a second or subsequent violation by the same person, the amount of the penalty assessed under subsection (c) may be doubled.
Nothing in subsection (a) shall apply to any person with respect to any paleontological resource which was in the lawful possession of such person prior to March 30, 2009.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 111–11, title VI, § 6306, Mar. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 1174.)
- 2009Enacted · Pub. L. 111-11 · 123 Stat. 1174
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 111-11 on 2009-03-30.
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