The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
009
:
UNDERWATER HISTORIC PROPERTIES
(Cite as: 22 V.S.A. § 782)
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§ 782. Issuance of permits
Any qualified person desiring to conduct any type of exploration or recovery operations,
in the course of which any underwater historic property or part thereof may be removed,
displaced, or destroyed, shall first make application to the State Historic Preservation
Officer for a permit to conduct the operations. The State Historic Preservation Officer,
with the advice of the State Archaeologist, may grant the applicant a permit for such
a period of time and under such conditions as the State Historic Preservation Officer
may deem to be in the best interests of the State. The permit may provide for the
fair compensation to the permittee in terms of a percentage of the reasonable cash
value of the objects recovered or a fair share of the objects recovered, the fair
compensation or share to be determined by the State Archaeologist. Superior title
to all objects recovered shall be retained by the State unless or until they are released
to the permittee by the State Archaeologist. All exploration and recovery operations
undertaken under a permit issued under this section shall be carried out under the
general supervision of the State Archaeologist and in such manner that the maximum
amount of historic, scientific, archaeological, and educational information may be
recovered and preserved in addition to the physical recovery of items. Permits may
be renewed upon or prior to expiration. Holders of permits shall be responsible for
obtaining permission of any federal agencies having jurisdiction prior to conducting
any recovery operations. (Added 1975, No. 109, § 4; amended 2001, No. 35, § 6; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 257, eff. July 1, 2024.)