1.This Act may be cited as the
Paleontological Resources Preservation Act
.
2.As used in this Act:
(1)The term casual collecting
means the collecting of a reasonable amount of common invertebrate and plant
paleontological resources for non-commercial personal use, either by surface
collection or the use of non-powered hand tools resulting in only negligible
disturbance to the Earth’s surface and other resources. As used in this
paragraph, the terms reasonable amount, common invertebrate
and plant paleontological resources and negligible
disturbance shall be determined by the Secretary.
(2)The term Federal lands
means—
(A)lands controlled or administered by the
Secretary of the Interior, except Indian lands; or
(B)National Forest System lands controlled or
administered by the Secretary of Agriculture.
(3)The term Indian Land means
lands of Indian tribes, or Indian individuals, which are either held in trust
by the United States or subject to a restriction against alienation imposed by
the United States.
(4)The term paleontological
resource means any fossilized remains, traces, or imprints of organisms,
preserved in or on the earth’s crust, that are of paleontological interest and
that provide information about the history of life on earth, except that the
term does not include—
(A)any materials associated with an
archaeological resource (as defined in section 3(1) of the Archaeological
Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470bb(1)); or
(B)any cultural item (as defined in section 2
of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C.
3001)).
(5)The term Secretary means the
Secretary of the Interior with respect to lands controlled or administered by
the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to
National Forest System Lands controlled or administered by the Secretary of
Agriculture.
(6)The term State means the fifty
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any
other territory or possession of the United States.
3.
(a)The Secretary shall manage and protect
paleontological resources on Federal lands using scientific principles and
expertise. The Secretary shall develop appropriate plans for inventory,
monitoring, and the scientific and educational use of paleontological
resources, in accordance with applicable agency laws, regulations, and
policies. These plans shall emphasize interagency coordination and
collaborative efforts where possible with non-Federal partners, the scientific
community, and the general public.
(b)To the extent possible, the Secretary of
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall coordinate in the
implementation of this Act.
4.Public awareness and education
programThe Secretary shall
establish a program to increase public awareness about the significance of
paleontological resources.
5.Collection of paleontological
resources
(a)
(1)Except as provided in this Act, a
paleontological resource may not be collected from Federal lands without a
permit issued under this Act by the Secretary.
(2)Casual collecting exceptionThe Secretary may allow casual collecting
without a permit on Federal lands controlled or administered by the Bureau of
Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Forest Service, where such
collection is consistent with the laws governing the management of those
Federal lands and this Act.
(3)Previous permit exceptionNothing in this section shall affect a
valid permit issued prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
(b)Criteria for Issuance of a
PermitThe Secretary may
issue a permit for the collection of a paleontological resource pursuant to an
application if the Secretary determines that—
(1)the applicant is qualified to carry out the
permitted activity;
(2)the permitted activity is undertaken for
the purpose of furthering paleontological knowledge or for public
education;
(3)the permitted activity is consistent with
any management plan applicable to the Federal lands concerned; and
(4)the proposed methods of collecting will not
threaten significant natural or cultural resources.
(c)A permit for the collection of a
paleontological resource issued under this section shall contain such terms and
conditions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this
Act. Every permit shall include requirements that—
(1)the paleontological resource that is
collected from Federal lands under the permit will remain the property of the
United States;
(2)the paleontological resource and copies of
associated records will be preserved for the public in an approved repository,
to be made available for scientific research and public education; and
(3)specific locality data will not be released
by the permittee or repository without the written permission of the
Secretary.
(d)Modification, Suspension, and Revocation of
Permits
(1)The Secretary may modify, suspend, or
revoke a permit issued under this section—
(A)for resource, safety, or other management
considerations; or
(B)when there is a violation of term or
condition of a permit issued pursuant to this section.
(2)The permit shall be revoked if any person
working under the authority of the permit is convicted under section 7 or is
assessed a civil penalty under section 8.
(e)In order to protect paleontological or
other resources and to provide for public safety, the Secretary may restrict
access to or close areas under the Secretary’s jurisdiction to the collection
of paleontological resources.
6.Any paleontological resource, and any data
and records associated with the resource, collected under a permit, shall be
deposited in an approved repository. The Secretary may enter into agreements
with non-Federal repositories regarding the curation of these resources, data,
and records.
7.Prohibited acts; criminal
penalties
(a)A person may not—
(1)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 lands unless such
activity is conducted in accordance with this Act;
(2)exchange, transport, export, receive, or
offer to exchange, transport, export, or receive any paleontological resource
if, in the exercise of due care, the person knew or should have known such
resource to have been excavated or removed from Federal lands in violation of
any provisions, rule, regulation, law, ordinance, or permit in effect under
Federal law, including this Act; or
(3)sell or purchase or offer to sell or
purchase any paleontological resource if, in the exercise of due care, the
person knew or should have known such resource to have been excavated, removed,
sold, purchased, exchanged, transported, or received from Federal lands.
(b)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 lands.
(c)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, United
States Code, or imprisoned not more than 10 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, United
States Code, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
(d)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 the date of the enactment of this
Act.
8.
(a)
(1)A person who violates any prohibition
contained in an applicable regulation or permit issued under this Act may be
assessed a penalty by the Secretary after the person is given notice and
opportunity for a hearing with respect to the violation. Each violation shall
be considered a separate offense for purposes of this section.
(2)The amount of such penalty assessed under
paragraph (1) shall be determined under regulations promulgated pursuant to
this Act, taking into account the following factors:
(A)The scientific or fair market value,
whichever is greater, of the paleontological resource involved, as determined
by the Secretary.
(B)The cost of response, restoration, and
repair of the resource and the paleontological site involved.
(C)Any other factors considered relevant by
the Secretary assessing the penalty.
(3)In the case of a second or subsequent
violation by the same person, the amount of a penalty assessed under paragraph
(2) may be doubled.
(4)The amount of any penalty assessed under
this subsection for any one violation shall not exceed an amount equal to
double the cost of response, restoration, and repair of resources and
paleontological site damage plus double the scientific or fair market value of
resources destroyed or not recovered.
(b)Petition for Judicial Review; Collection of
Unpaid Assessments
(1)Any person against whom an order is issued
assessing a penalty under subsection (a) may file a petition for judicial
review of the order in the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia or in the district in which the violation is alleged to have occurred
within the 30-day period beginning on the date the order making the assessment
was issued. Upon notice of such filing, the Secretary shall promptly file such
a certified copy of the record on which the order was issued. The court shall
hear the action on the record made before the Secretary and shall sustain the
action if it is supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a
whole.
(2)If any person fails to
pay a penalty under this section within 30 days—
(A)after the order making assessment has
become final and the person has not filed a petition for judicial review of the
order in accordance with paragraph (1); or
(B)after a court in an action brought in
paragraph (1) has entered a final judgment upholding the assessment of the
penalty, the Secretary may request the Attorney General to institute a civil
action in a district court of the United States for any district in which the
person if found, resides, or transacts business, to collect the penalty (plus
interest at currently prevailing rates from the date of the final order or the
date of the final judgment, as the case may be). The district court shall have
jurisdiction to hear and decide any such action. In such action, the validity,
amount, and appropriateness of such penalty shall not be subject to review. Any
person who fails to pay on a timely basis the amount of an assessment of a
civil penalty as described in the first sentence of this paragraph shall be
required to pay, in addition to such amount and interest, attorneys fees and
costs for collection proceedings.
(c)Hearings held during proceedings instituted
under subsection (a) shall be conducted in accordance with section 554 of title
5, United States Code.
(d)Penalties collected under this section
shall be available to the Secretary and without further appropriation may be
used only as follows:
(1)To protect, restore, or repair the
paleontological resources and sites which were the subject of the action, or to
acquire sites with equivalent resources, and to protect, monitor, and study the
resources and sites. Any acquisition shall be subject to any limitations
contained in the organic legislation for such Federal lands.
(2)To provide educational materials to the
public about paleontological resources and sites.
(3)To provide for the payment of rewards as
provided in section 9.
9.
(a)The Secretary may pay from penalties
collected under section 7 or 8—
(1)consistent with amounts established in
regulations by the Secretary; or
(2)if no such regulation exists, an amount
equal to the lesser of one-half of the penalty or $500, to any person who
furnishes information which leads to the finding of a civil violation, or the
conviction of criminal violation, with respect to which the penalty was paid.
If several persons provided the information, the amount shall be divided among
the persons. No officer or employee of the United States or of any State or
local government who furnishes information or renders service in the
performance of his official duties shall be eligible for payment under this
subsection.
(b)All paleontological resources with respect
to which a violation under section 7 or 8 occurred and which are in the
possession of any person, and all vehicles and equipment of any person that
were used in connection with the violation, shall be subject to civil
forfeiture, or upon conviction, to criminal forfeiture. All provisions of law
relating to the seizure, forfeiture, and condemnation of property for a
violation of this Act, the disposition of such property or the proceeds from
the sale thereof, and remission or mitigation of such forfeiture, as well as
the procedural provisions of chapter 46 of title 18, United States Code, shall
apply to the seizures and forfeitures incurred or alleged to have incurred
under the provisions of this Act.
(c)Transfer of Seized ResourcesThe Secretary may transfer administration
of seized paleontological resources to Federal or non-Federal educational
institutions to be used for scientific or educational purposes.
10.Information concerning the nature and
specific location of a paleontological resource the collection of which
requires a permit under this Act or under any other provision of Federal law
shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States
Code, and any other law unless the Secretary determines that disclosure
would—
(1)further the purposes of this Act;
(2)not create risk of harm to or theft or
destruction of the resource or the site containing the resource; and
(3)be in accordance with other applicable
laws.
11.As soon as practical after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are
appropriate to carry out this Act, providing opportunities for public notice
and comment.
12.Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to—
(1)invalidate, modify, or impose any
additional restrictions or permitting requirements on any activities permitted
at any time under the general mining laws, the mineral or geothermal leasing
laws, laws providing for minerals materials disposal, or laws providing for the
management or regulation of the activities authorized by the aforementioned
laws including but not limited to the Federal Land Policy Management Act (43
U.S.C. 1701–1784), Public Law 94–429 (commonly known as the Mining in
the Parks Act
) (16 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.), the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201–1358), and the Organic Administration
Act (16 U.S.C. 478, 482, 551);
(2)invalidate, modify, or impose any
additional restrictions or permitting requirements on any activities permitted
at any time under existing laws and authorities relating to reclamation and
multiple uses of Federal lands;
(3)apply to, or require a permit for, casual
collecting of a rock, mineral, or invertebrate or plant fossil that is not
protected under this Act;
(4)affect any lands other than Federal lands
or affect the lawful recovery, collection, or sale of paleontological resources
from lands other than Federal lands;
(5)alter or diminish the authority of a
Federal agency under any other law to provide protection for paleontological
resources on Federal lands in addition to the protection provided under this
Act; or
(6)create any right, privilege, benefit, or
entitlement for any person who is not an officer or employee of the United
States acting in that capacity. No person who is not an officer or employee of
the United States acting in that capacity shall have standing to file any civil
action in a court of the United States to enforce any provision or amendment
made by this Act.
13.Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
Act.
February 15, 2007
Reported without amendment