CAVE PROTECTION and ARCHAEOLOGY STATUTES STATE – by – STATE NSS Cave Vandalism Deterrence Reward Commission Researched and Prepared by Thomas Lera, 2020 Updated by _______________, ______ name date There are many free websites which have Federal and State Laws, Codes, Statutes and Regulations. The Cave and Archaeology Laws and Statutes included on the following pages can be found on Justia US Law webpages. Access to the law and statutes is critical to understanding your rights and your responsibilities. In my opinion the Justia website is one of the best organized, most up-to-date, easy to navigate, and offers free access to federal and state codes, statutes, and regulations. Go to https://law.justia.com/ to begin your search. Also review the individual State code, statue, and regulation webpages. Links and citations have been included. Useful law school websites are https://www.law.cornell.edu/ and http://www.washlaw.edu/ . When in doubt, contact a lawyer. 1 INTRODUCTION Laws passed by legislatures are generally known as “statutes.” Often, they outline general guidelines authorizing agencies to develop the specifics of process and enforcement. “Laws” created by agencies are called regulations, which usually must be authorized by a statute. Although they are subordinate to statutes, they have the same legal force. Agencies and their departments are part of the executive branch of state and federal governments and are tasked with the execution of the law. They have expertise in their field and are expected to be better equipped to develop the details of how a law will operate. Regulations can be enforced by citations, fines, and other forms of discipline just as easily as statutes. They can have a bigger effect on organizations than statutes because they are more detailed. There are valid reasons for laws, statues, and regulations restricting access to some information, such as locations of caves and archaeological sites. Caves contain valuable mineral specimens, fragile important ecosystems, and can be dangerous if visitors are inexperienced or unprepared. Karst areas, which are landscapes associated with caves, area also important sources of drinking water in many areas of the United States. Some states’ cave protection and open record laws do not contain specific language exempting the site locations from open records requests. Instead they include vague statements indicating that information protected by law is confidential. Of the twenty-eight states having cave protection statutes, Hawaii, Maryland, and Virginia protect their locations. In Hawaii, the Cave Protection Law requires confidentiality of cave locations. The Freedom of Information laws in Maryland and Virginia specifically exempt cave locations from public release. Archaeological sites contain artifacts that can be used to interpret and reconstruct the culture and history of an area’s past inhabitants as well as its natural history. In addition, some archaeological sites, especially Indian mounds, located on private property, are protected by trespassing laws. While archaeological sites are protected in all states, the laws vary from state to state. Some state archaeological protection laws include a clause protecting site locations (e.g., West Virginia and Wisconsin), while others exempt release of information on archaeological sites in their public record or Freedom of Information (FOIA) laws. In cases where confidentiality of archaeological sites is not mentioned in either the state archaeological protection law or the open records law, the FOIA laws contain clauses saying information protected by Federal or other statutes is exempt from public release. The following pages list the individual state statutes but not the individual state regulations promulgated by the responsible department, such as the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Department of Historic Resources, etc. We hope this information is useful in your research. Use your contacts to find the appropriate regulations, then send us a link to their website, a general phone number, and the office contact email (not your contact’s phone or email) and we will post this. Please send to [email protected]. Remember, the federal laws, state statutes, and department regulations are always changing. Make sure the information you are reviewing is the most current. If you find a change, let us know and we will update the appropriate page. Thomas Lera, 2020 2 CONTENTS State Cave Statutes- Page Archaeology Statutes - Page Alabama 5 7 Alaska 8 Arizona 9 10 Arkansas 11 13 California 15 19 Colorado 22 24 Connecticut 26 Delaware 27 Florida 34 36 Georgia 39 41 Hawaii 45 50 Idaho 52 53 Illinois 54 57 Indiana 60 62 Iowa 64 Kansas 66 Kentucky 69 72 Louisiana 74 Maine 78 80 Maryland 81 83 Massachusetts 86 Michigan 91 Minnesota 93 Mississippi 96 Missouri 98 103 3 State Cave Statutes- Page Archaeology Statutes - Page Montana 104 106 Nebraska 108 Nevada 111 114 New Hampshire 116 New Jersey 118 New Mexico 121 123 New York 125 North Carolina 129 131 North Dakota 134 Ohio 138 141 Oklahoma 142 143 Oregon 146 Pennsylvania 149 153 Rhode Island 155 South Carolina 157 South Dakota 161 Tennessee 163 165 Texas 167 172 Utah 175 Vermont 179 179 Virginia 186 190 Washington 192 West Virginia 196 198 Wisconsin 203 205 Wyoming 208 Additional References 210 4 ALABAMA CAVE PROTECTION STATUTES 2016 Code of Alabama Title 9 - Conservation and Natural Resources. Chapter 19 – Caves https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2016/title-9/chapter-19/ The 1988 law was updated in 2016. The universal citation: AL Code § 9-19-1 to 9-15-5 (2016). Section 9-19-1 - Definitions. The following words and phrases when used in this Chapter shall for the purpose of this Chapter have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly indicates a different meaning: (1) CAVE. Any natural subterranean cavity that is at least 50 feet in length or depth, or any combination of length and depth or that contains obligatory cavernicolous fauna (animals obliged to live underground). The word “cave” includes but is not limited to cavern, pit, pothole, well (natural), sinkhole, and/or grotto. (2) SPELEOTHEM. A natural secondary mineral deposit or formation in a cave. This includes but is not limited to deposits called stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, anthodites, gypsum flowers, needles, or angel’s hair, soda straws, draperies, bacon, cave pearls, popcorn, rimstone dams, columns, pallettes and flowstone. Speleothems are commonly composed of calcite, aragonite, epsomite, gypsum, celestite, and other similar minerals. (3) COMMERCIAL CAVE. Any cave or portion of a cave that is improved with trails and lighting utilized by the owner or lessee for the purpose of exhibition to the public as a profit or nonprofit enterprise. (4) WILD CAVE. Any cave or portion of a cave that is not a commercial cave. (Acts 1988, No. 88-582, p. 909, §1.) Section 9-19-2 - Liability for injury while engaged in cave related activity; liability for equipment failure. (a) While engaged in cave related activities, no person or organization, or formal or informal group of persons in the company of other persons whether he or they be leading, accompanying, or in the area with the other person, shall be held liable for injuries or the results of actions by said other person, unless said other person acted as a result of an act or order issued by the first person intended to inflict injury. (b) Each person in a group engaged in cave related activities is individually responsible for evaluating the safety of group equipment which that person intends to use, such as ropes, rigging, anchor devices, climbing gear and similar equipment. The club, organization, group, leader, organizer, or person owning or emplacing such gear or equipment shall not be held liable for failure of any such equipment or gear or its emplacement, except, if the rigging or equipment is altered after the person injured has had an opportunity to inspect it. (Acts 1988, No. 88-582, p. 909, §2.) Section 9-19-3 - Penalty for damage, litter, etc. It shall be unlawful and constitute a misdemeanor for any person, organization, firm or corporation, including an officer, agent or employee of any town or municipality to: (1) Maliciously break, break off, crack, carve upon, write, burn, damage, or otherwise mar or mark on, remove, or in any other manner destroy, disturb, deface, mar or harm the walls or any speleothem in any cave, except for recognized scientific purposes. 5 (2) Discard litter or refuse to any degree in any cave. (3) Break, force, tamper with, remove, or otherwise disturb a lock, gate, door, or other structure or obstruction designed to control or prevent access to any cave, unless such act is specifically ordered by the owner. (4) Offer for sale any speleothem or export from the State of Alabama speleothems for sale elsewhere. (5) Remove, kill, harm, or disturb any plant or animal life found within any wild cave, except for recognized scientific purposes. (6) The provisions of subdivisions (1) through (6) of this section shall not apply to a recognized rescue unit operating in response to an emergency or believed emergency. (Acts 1988, No. 88-582, p. 909, §3.) Section 9-19-4 - Penalty for risk of pollution of underground water resources. It shall be unlawful and constitute a misdemeanor for any person, organization, firm, corporation, including any officer, employee or agent of any town or municipality to risk the pollution of the underground water resources of the state by storing, dumping, disposing, or otherwise placing in caves, sinkholes or natural wells: chemicals, refuse, dead animals, garbage or other materials which are potentially injurious or hazardous to the quality of the aquifer, water and/or water table. (Acts 1988, No. 88-582, p.