P.R. Laws tit. 18, § 1560
As of the date of approval of this act, no construction or reconstruction work, nor excavation, extraction or earth-moving works may be initiated or continued at any site whatsoever for which there is prior documentation or reliable indications of the presence of archaeological material, unless the Council’s authorization is obtained. The Permit Management Office shall not grant a construction permit, nor shall the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources grant an excavation, extraction or earth moving permit in those sites unless the contractor or owner of the works presents evidence to it of the Council’s authorization required by this section.
When the construction or reconstruction, extraction, excavation or earth-moving work is at a site about which there is no previous documentation or reliable indications of the presence of archaeological material, and after it is initiated archaeological material is discovered, the contractor or owner of the work, as the case may be, shall suspend the same and notify the Council within twenty-four (24) hours following said find, in order to obtain the corresponding authorization to continue the work or tasks in question. The Council shall determine if the contractor or owner of the work shall be required to present a Declaration of Archaeological Impact no later than three (3) days after the date of notice of the find.
In order to comply with the provisions of this section, the Council shall establish, through regulations, the various forms and criteria for the archaeological impact evaluation. The arbitrary destruction of any material, structure or a site of land archaeological interest or the voluntary failure to notify the initiation of a construction, earth-moving or excavation project, as provided in this chapter, shall be deemed a felony and, upon conviction thereof, the person shall be punished with a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or imprisonment for a term of not less than one (1) year nor more than three (3) years, or both penalties at the discretion of the court, in addition to the indefinite stoppage of the project until all the requirements of this chapter are met.
History —July 20, 1988, No. 112, p. 459, § 10.