9-8a-305. Permit required to survey or excavate on state lands -- Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office to issue permits and make rules -- Ownership of collections and resources -- Revocation or suspension of permits -- Criminal penalties.
(1)
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (1)(d) and (3)(c), each principal investigator who wishes to survey or excavate on any lands owned or controlled by the state, its political subdivisions, or by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration shall obtain a survey or excavation permit from the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office.
(b) A principal investigator who holds a valid permit under this section may allow other individuals to assist the principal investigator in a survey or excavation if the principal investigator ensures that all the individuals comply with the law, the rules, the permit, and the appropriate professional standards.
(c) A person, other than a principal investigator, may not survey or excavate on any lands owned or controlled by the state, its political subdivisions, or by the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration unless the person works under the direction of a principal investigator who holds a valid permit.
(d) A permit obtained before July 1, 2006, shall continue until the permit terminates on its own terms.
(2)
(a) To obtain a survey permit, a principal investigator shall:
(i) submit a permit application on a form furnished by the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office;
(ii) except as provided in Subsection (2)(b), possess a graduate degree in anthropology, archaeology, or history;
(iii) have one year of full-time professional experience or equivalent specialized training in archaeological research, administration, or management; and
(iv) have one year of supervised field and analytical experience in Utah prehistoric or historic archaeology.
(b) In lieu of the graduate degree required by Subsection (2)(a)(ii), a principal investigator may submit evidence of training and experience equivalent to a graduate degree.
(c) Unless the permit is revoked or suspended, a survey permit is valid for the time period specified in the permit by the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, which may not exceed three years.
(3)
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (3)(c), to obtain an excavation permit, a principal investigator shall, in addition to complying with Subsection (2)(a), submit:
(i) a research design to the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office and the Antiquities Section that:
(A) states the questions to be addressed;
(B) states the reasons for conducting the work;
(C) defines the methods to be used;
(D) describes the analysis to be performed;
(E) outlines the expected results and the plan for reporting;
(F) evaluates expected contributions of the proposed work to archaeological or anthropological science; and
(G) estimates the cost and the time of the work that the principal investigator believes is necessary to provide the maximum amount of historic, scientific, archaeological, anthropological, and educational information; and
(ii) proof of permission from the landowner to enter the property for the purposes of the permit.
(b) An excavation permit is valid for the amount of time specified in the permit, unless the permit is revoked according to Subsection (9).
(c) The Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office may delegate to an agency the authority to issue excavation permits if the agency:
(i) requests the delegation; and
(ii) employs or has a long-term contract with a principal investigator with a valid survey permit.
(d) The Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office shall conduct an independent review of the delegation authorized by Subsection (3)(c) every three years and may revoke the delegation at any time without cause.
(4) The Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office shall:
(a) grant a survey permit to a principal investigator who meets the requirements of this section; and
(b) grant an excavation permit to a principal investigator after approving, in consultation with the Antiquities Section, the research design for the project.
(5) By following the procedures and requirements of Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office shall, after consulting with the Antiquities Section, make rules to:
(a) establish survey methodology;
(b) standardize report and data preparation and submission;
(c) require other permit application information that the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office finds necessary, including proof of consultation with the appropriate Native American tribe;
(d) establish what training and experience is equivalent to a graduate degree;
(e) establish requirements for a person authorized by Subsection (1)(b) to assist the principal investigator;
(f) establish requirements for a principal investigator's employer, if applicable; and
(g) establish criteria that, if met, would allow the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office to reinstate a suspended permit.
(6) Each principal investigator shall submit a summary report of the work for each project to the Antiquities Section in a form prescribed by a rule established under Subsection (5)(b), which shall include copies of all:
(a) site forms;
(b) data;
(c) maps;
(d) drawings;
(e) photographs; and
(f) descriptions of specimens.
(7)
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (7)(c), a person may not remove from Utah any specimen, site, or portion of any site from lands owned or controlled by the state or its political subdivisions, other than school and institutional trust lands, without permission from the Antiquities Section, and prior consultation with the landowner and any other agencies managing other interests in the land.
(b) Except as provided in Subsection (7)(c), a person may not remove from Utah any specimen, site, or portion of any site from school and institutional trust lands without permission from the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, granted after consultation with the Antiquities Section.
(c) If a specimen, site, or portion of a site is placed in a repository or curation facility, a person may remove it by following the procedures established by the repository or curation facility.
(8)
(a) Collections recovered from school and institutional trust lands are owned by the respective trust.
(b) Collections recovered from lands owned or controlled by the state or its subdivisions, other than school and institutional trust lands, are owned by the state.
(c) Within a reasonable time after the completion of fieldwork, each permit holder shall deposit all collections at the museum, a curation facility, or a repository.
(d) The repository or curation facility for collections from lands owned or controlled by the state or its subdivisions shall be designated according to the rules made under the authority of Section 53H-4-211.
(9)
(a) Upon complaint by an agency, the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office shall investigate a principal investigator and the work conducted under a permit.
(b) By following the procedures and requirements of Title 63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act, the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office may revoke or suspend a permit if the principal investigator fails to conduct a survey or excavation according to law, the rules enacted by the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office, or permit provisions.
(10)
(a) Any person violating this section is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
(b) A person convicted of violating this section, or found to have violated the rules authorized by this section, shall, in addition to any other penalties imposed, forfeit all archaeological resources discovered by or through the person's efforts to the state or the respective trust.
(11) The office may enter into memoranda of agreement to issue project numbers or to retain other data for federal lands or Native American lands within the state.
Amended by Chapter 9, 2025 Special Session 1
