§ 233. State Museum; collections made by the staff. 1. All scientific\nspecimens and collections, works of art, objects of historic interest\nand similar property appropriate to a general museum, if owned by the\nstate and not placed in other custody by a specific law, shall\nconstitute the collections of the state museum. The state museum shall\nbe the custodian of the collections, shall perform standard curatorial,\nresearch and educational activities and a director appointed by the\nregents shall constitute its head.\n 2. Any scientific collection made by a member of the museum staff\nduring his term of office shall, unless otherwise authorized by\nresolution of the regents, belong to the state and form part of the\nstate museum.\n 3. The state of New York, through its legislative authority accepts\nthe provisions of section one hundred twenty of the federal-aid highway\nact of nineteen hundred fifty-six (70 Stat. 374) relating to the salvage\nof archaeological or paleontological objects, including but not limited\nto ruins, historic sites, Indian burial grounds, cemeteries, buildings,\nartifacts, fossils or, other objects of antiquity having national\nsignificance from an historical, cultural, social or scientific\nstandpoint, and empowers and directs the commissioner of education to\npromulgate joint regulations with the department of environmental\nconservation, the office of general services, and the office of parks,\nrecreation and historic preservation and make agreements with those and\nother appropriate state departments or agencies and such agency or\nagencies as needed to carry out the purposes of such provision of law.\n 4. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of this section,\nno person shall investigate, excavate, remove, injure, appropriate or\ndestroy any object of archaeological, historical, cultural, social,\nscientific or paleontological interest, situated on, in or under lands\nowned by the state of New York, without the written permission of the\ncommissioner of education. A violation of this provision shall\nconstitute a class A misdemeanor. The attorney general, either\nindependently or upon referral from a state agency, shall seek civil\nand/or criminal prosecution, civil and/or criminal penalties and any\nother relief, including but not limited to seizure and forfeiture of the\nappropriate items, and forfeiture of the instrumentalities of the\nunauthorized actions on state lands. The discovery of any such objects\nshall be forthwith reported to the commissioner by the state department\nor agency having jurisdiction over such lands.\n 5. Permits for the examination, excavation or gathering of\narchaeological, historical, cultural, social, scientific or\npaleontological objects upon the lands under their respective\njurisdictions may be granted by the heads of those state departments or\nagencies to persons authorized by the commissioner of education for the\npurposes of the state museum and state science service, for the purpose\nof the preservation of any such objects worthy of permanent preservation\nand, in all cases, to the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge\nrelating thereto.\n
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