2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 54 - Ports and Maritime Matters › Chapter 7 - Shipwrecks And Salvage Operations › Section 54-7-740. Additional provisions applicable to licenses issued by State Archaeologist.

For each license issued by the State Underwater Archaeologist the following provisions also apply:
(1)(a) The assignment of additional personnel or any change in the personnel from that scheduled in the application to perform the work is subject to prior approval by the institute in order to assure that the overall qualifications of the licensee are consistent with those originally considered by the institute in the issuance of the license.
(b) The institute must be afforded at least ten business days to review the qualifications of proposed new personnel before approving their assignment. If the institute fails to respond within the ten-day period the new personnel are considered approved.
(2)(a) At all times there must be a person designated by and acting for the licensee aboard any vessel or present at any phase of the work carried out under the license who is responsible for the work and the proper accounting of all artifacts and fossil specimens located or recovered and who must be familiar with and responsible for compliance with the terms and requirements of the license.
(b) At all times the work must be under the immediate supervision of a professional field archaeologist with training or experience in maritime archeology that is acceptable to the institute or, where a paleontological property is involved, a field paleontologist or museum curator that is acceptable to the museum.
(c) The monitoring archaeologist, if any, shall ensure that the field archaeologist complies with the research plan approved by the institute.
(d) The monitoring paleontologist, if any, shall ensure that the field paleontologist complies with the research plan approved by the institute and museum.
(e) Any disputes or differences of opinion between the field archaeologist and the monitoring archaeologist must be resolved by the monitoring archaeologist.
(f) Disputes or differences of opinion between the field paleontologist and the monitoring paleontologist must be resolved by the monitoring paleontologist.
(g) If a license contains monitoring provisions, the licensee shall act in accordance with the direction given by the monitoring archaeologist and/or monitoring paleontologist, especially with respect to:
(i) methods of handling any artifact or fossil specimen so as to minimize any risk of loss, damage, substantive injury to, or deterioration of, the artifact or specimen;
(ii) methods of preserving from damage, decay, or deterioration any artifact or fossil specimen by contact with air, light, or otherwise;
(iii) methods of entering upon or dealing with any site so to avoid as much as possible any damage to the site; and
(iv) methods of cataloguing, indexing, or recording any artifacts and/or fossil specimens found upon or in the vicinity of any site whether or not those artifacts or specimens are brought to the surface.
(3)(a) Changes in financial support or equipment for the project from that listed on the license application must be approved by the institute.
(b) The licensee shall notify the institute in writing of changes or proposed changes in financial support or equipment from that noted in the license application. The notice shall contain information regarding the change in the form and detail required by the institute. The institute must be afforded at least ten business days to review the changes before making a decision whether or not to approve them. If the institute fails to respond within the ten-day period, the changes are considered approved.
(c) If the institute determines that changes or proposed changes in the financial support or the equipment for the project from that listed in the license application decrease materially the licensee's ability to carry out and complete the project in accordance with the research plan approved by the institute, the State Archaeologist may revoke the license.
(4)(a) The institute may require that security be provided and maintained for sites where submerged archaeological historic property or submerged paleontological property are discovered that are sufficiently significant to warrant protection.
(b) If the institute determines that a site warrants protection, the licensee is responsible for providing and maintaining security for the site.
(c) The State is not responsible for marking or protecting a site except as the institute may determine to be desirable in the administration of this article.
(5) During work carried out under a license granted by the institute, the applicant shall maintain logs of all activities related to the license on standard forms prescribed by the institute which must include:
(a) a day log;
(b) a survey log;
(c) a diving log;
(d) a photographic log; and
(e) an artifact log, including a catalogue numbering system prescribed by the institute.
(6)(a) The licensee may not use any means of survey or excavation that would destroy or substantially injure a submerged archaeological historic property or submerged paleontological property before its location has been documented.
(b) The licensee may not use explosives, cutterhead dredges, draglines, clam dredges, airlifts, suction dredges, propwash deflectors, or other grossly destructive devices in any aspect of activities covered under a license without the prior written consent of the institute.
(7)(a) Recovery of artifacts and/or fossils may be made only under the supervision of the monitoring archaeologist in accordance with the research plan approved by the institute.
(b) Large artifacts such as cannons, anchors, and hull remains that have not been specified for recovery in the license may not be recovered unless the licensee has obtained specific written permission from the institute.
(c) Before a division of artifacts and/or fossils in accordance with the method established at the issuance of the license, the licensee may not:
(i) devise, bequeath, transfer, convey, or dispose of by any manner an artifact or fossil recovered under the authority of a license; or
(ii) melt, render down, or in any way change the shape, character, or form of an artifact or fossil recovered under the authority of a license.
(8)(a) The licensee is wholly responsible for transporting, storing, and stabilizing all artifacts and fossils raised under the license and for the costs associated with these activities. The licensee is wholly responsible for conserving all artifacts and/or fossils to which the licensee receives title in a division.
(b) The licensee shall deliver by a safe means all artifacts and/or fossils recovered during each calendar month through the duration of the license to the conservation facility approved by the institute in accordance with Section 54-7-720(A)(1)(b) for secure storage until the artifacts and/or fossils are treated or disposed of in accordance with the license. The licensee shall ensure delivery of the artifacts and/or fossils to the conservation facility within a time that has been specified in the license.
(c) Every artifact and fossil delivered for storage to the conservation facility must be catalogued on an inventory form. The inventory form shall indicate receipt of the artifacts and/or fossils through the signature of a person authorized by the facility to receive the artifacts and fossils from the licensee. One copy of the inventory must be retained by the licensee, one copy must be transmitted to the institute, and one copy must be kept with the artifacts and/or fossils at the conservation facility.
(d) The institute may designate separate storage areas for artifacts and fossils which are bulky and of a comparatively low intrinsic historical, scientific, or educational value from those items of high intrinsic historical, scientific, or educational value.
(e) While any artifact or fossil is in storage, the State may use whatever means appropriate to inspect, document, conserve, record, and analyze the artifact or fossil.
(9)(a) The licensee shall comply fully with all applicable federal, state, or local safety regulations governing activities exercised under the privileges of the license.
(b) The licensee shall agree to indemnify the State and the institute from liability in accordance with Section 54-7-820(B).
(c) The licensee shall maintain adequate insurance coverage for workers' compensation and liability to cover all activities under the license.
(10) The licensee shall remove all waste, refuse, rubbish, or litter from the submerged lands caused by the licensed activity.
(11)(a) The licensee shall comply fully with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations which govern the activities exercised under the privileges of the license and shall apply for, receive, and fully comply with all necessary licenses and permits.
(b) The licensee shall ensure that its operations are conducted in a manner so as not to impede navigation in existing federal or state navigation channels or to damage or destroy important natural areas, geologic formations, ecological preserves, or habitat areas.
(12) In addition to any monitoring requirement that may be set forth in the license, a representative of the institute or, where paleontological property is involved, a representative of the museum may visit and be present at the location of operations carried out under a license including diving operations, storage, conservation, recordation, or any other aspect of the operations for which a license has been granted in order to ensure compliance with the license and this article.
(13)(a) A representative of the institute or other designated state enforcement authority may at any time require the licensee to produce the license for examination.
(b) A representative of the institute may examine all work done or being done under the license.
(14) Licensees shall maintain records and file reports of activities as the institute specifies in the license. All records must be open to inspection by representatives of the institute or, where paleontological property is involved, representatives of the museum during reasonable working hours.
(15) A license, or any part of a license, may not be assigned by the licensee to another person including a successor in interest of the licensee without the prior written consent of the institute. The work covered by a license may not be contracted or subcontracted by the licensee to any party not addressed by the license without the prior written consent of the institute.
(16) The licensee shall retain full responsibility for the operations conducted under the license whether or not any of the work has been contracted or subcontracted. At all times there must be a person designated by the licensee aboard a vessel or present at any phase of the operation conducted under the privileges of the license who must be responsible for the work and who is familiar with the law, stipulations, and directives concerning the work and who is responsible for compliance with them in order to insure preservation of submerged archaeological historic property and/or submerged paleontological property.
(17) The licensee shall prohibit its agents or employees from retaining any artifact and/or fossil specimens from a site.
(18)(a) No applicant may be granted more than one exclusive license for the same time period.
(b) To afford adequate protection for the interest of the State, it is the policy of the institute to limit the number of licenses granted to those that can be properly supervised, monitored, and administered by the authorized agents of the institute.
HISTORY: 1991 Act No. 169, Section 1; 2002 Act No. 364, Section 8, eff September 26, 2002.
Effect of Amendment
The 2002 amendment, in the introductory paragraph, substituted "State Underwater Archaeologist" for "State Archaeologist".