2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWELVE - Conservation (§§ 1-16 — 8162) › Subtitle 5 - Environment (§§ 1120 — 1436) › Chapter 122 - Protection and Preservation of Caves, Caverns and Sinkholes (§§ 1143 — 1143h) › § 1143c - Prohibitions and penalties

(a) Any person who voluntarily performs any of the following acts shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term that shall not exceed six (6) months or by a fine that shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500), or both penalties at the discretion of the court:
(1) Breaks, cracks, chisels, paints, writes, marks, or in any way damages, destroys or defaces any natural material found in any cave, cavern or sinkhole.
(2) Removes or carries away any natural material found in a cave, cavern or sinkhole.
(3) Kills, damages, disturbs or removes any animal or plant found in any cave, cavern or sinkhole.
(4) Alters the natural atmosphere of any cave, cavern or sinkhole in any way, including, but without being limited to, the burning of any material producing smoke or gases that are harmful to the animals and plants; Provided, That the fact of penetrating or remaining in a cave, cavern or sinkhole does not constitute a violation to this section.
(5) Enters any cave, cavern or sinkhole carrying any kind of aerosol and other type of container having paint, stain or any other coloring material.
(6) Breaks, forces, removes or damages any lock, gate, door or any structure or construction designed to prevent the entrance to any cave, cavern or sinkhole, regardless of the fact that the person does enter or not.
(7) Offers for sale, exchange or donation; sells, exchanges or donates; exports, or in any other manner disposes of any natural material or archaeological evidence taken out of any cave, cavern or sinkhole.
(8) Contaminates, diverts or alters in any way whatsoever the water in any cave, cavern or sinkhole.
(b) Any person who voluntarily alters, removes, carries away or in any way damages any evidence or archaeological features found in any cave, cavern or sinkhole, including but without being limited to petroglyphs, pictographs, ceramics, bones or tools, shall be punished by imprisonment for a minimum term of six (6) months and a maximum of five (5) years, or a minimum fine of one hundred dollars ($100) and a maximum of two thousand, five hundred dollars ($2,500).
(c) Any person who voluntarily deposits or leaves in any cave, cavern or sinkhole, any food, containers, ropes, electric batteries, carbide, papers, wrappings, garbage, rubble or any waste, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars ($5) nor more than fifty dollars ($50), or imprisonment for one (1) day for each dollar not paid.
(d) The development of dwellings, industries, structures and other buildings with foundations on the caves, caverns or sinkholes and subterranean rivers that may be a hazard to the health or safety of the community, the preservation of the caves, caverns or sinkholes, and would contaminate these bodies of water, without the prior authorization of the Secretary of Natural and Environmental Resources, is hereby forbidden.
(e) The use of the caves, caverns or sinkholes for the construction of septic tanks, for the discharge of domestic or industrial waste and for the breeding of animals that could affect these ecosystems is hereby forbidden.
History —July 12, 1985, No. 111, p. 384, § 4.