Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 530 - Historical Preservation And Heritage Commission › Chapter 10 - General Procedures › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 2 - Registration and Protection of Historic Cemeteries › Section 530-RICR-10-00-2.3 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. "Applicant" means the person who seeks
				 approval from the city or town council to alter or remove a historic burial or
				 grave or structure located within a historic cemetery or to undertake
				 excavation within twenty-five (25) feet of a historic cemetery.
B. "Archaeological burial site" means an area
				 of land that has been used for interment of human remains for more than one
				 hundred (100) years, including burial of Native American or other ethnic
				 groups. An archaeological burial site may be unmarked and unrecorded prior to
				 discovery.
C. "Archaeological
				 investigation" means the examination of a physical land area, including
				 subsurface deposits, for the purpose of obtaining information on the
				 archaeological resources located on, in, or under the land, using the methods
				 and techniques of archaeology, as specified in the RIHPHC Performance Standards
				 and Guidelines For Archaeological Projects (Standards for Archaeological
				 Survey). Archaeological investigations carried out to comply with R.I. Gen.
				 Laws Chapter 23-18 should be conducted under a permit from the
				 RIHPHC.
D. "Family cemetery" means
				 an historic cemetery that is not associated with a specific religious
				 organization but that is the site of burial for persons related by blood,
				 marriage or household.
E. "Historic
				 cemetery" or "historical cemetery" means any tract of land which has been for
				 more than one hundred (100) years used as a burial place for human remains,
				 whether or not marked with an historic marker or gravestone, including, but not
				 limited to, ancient burial places known or suspected to contain the remains of
				 one or more Native Americans. A historic cemetery may contain one or more
				 graves or burial sites. In order to meet the requirement of R.I. Gen. Laws
				 §
										23-18-11(b) 
				 the term "historic cemetery" also refers to an area twenty-five (25) feet in
				 width around the perimeter of the cemetery. R.I. Gen. Laws §§
										23-18-1(5) 
				 and
				  23-18-11(b).
F. "Human remains" means any parts or remains
				 of deceased persons, including skeletal remains or cremated ashes.
G. "Grave" means any site where human remains
				 have been interred. The term grave includes grave markers, funerary objects,
				 and cultural remains and artifacts associated with the interment. A grave shall
				 include mausoleums, crypts or other structures designed to house human
				 remains.
H. "Least disruptive"
				 means a method of construction, excavation, removal or any other activity that
				 has the least destructive impact on the historic cemetery, grave, or human
				 remains.
I. "Owner" means the owner
				 of a parcel of land.
J. "Religious
				 cemetery" means any cemetery owned or maintained by a religious
				 organization.
K. "Religious
				 organization" means an organization representing the adherents of any religious
				 society.
L. "Site alteration plan"
				 means a document showing in written text and graphic plan the proposed
				 alteration of an historic cemetery, archaeological burial site or family
				 cemetery, including detailed specifications for alteration, removal and
				 reinterment of human remains.