§ 952. Definitions

(a) “Agency” means any department, agency, authority, commission or instrumentality of the Government of the Virgin Islands.

(b) “Archaeological site” means a location wherein exists material evidence of past human life and culture that is older than fifty (50) years, including burials of human beings.

(c) “Archaeological specimen” means any item, relic, remain, object, artifact or other evidence of a prehistoric, historic, cultural, archaeological or anthropological nature that has scientific, historic or cultural value as an object of antiquity.

(d) “Area of potential effects” means the geographic area or areas within which an undertaking may cause changes in the character or use of an identified historic property.

(e) “Coastal waters” means those navigable waters adjacent to the shoreline, extending out of the three-mile limit from the mean low-tide watermark, and includes, but is not limited to sounds, bays, lagoons, ponds and estuaries that are under the jurisdiction of the Government of the Virgin Islands.

(f) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.

(g) “Cultural property” means a structure, place, site or object having historic, archaeological, scientific, architectural or other cultural significance to the Virgin Islands.

(h) “Data recording techniques” means:

• (1) The data recording techniques outlined in the Secretary of the Interior’s “Standards and Guidelines for Archaeology and Historic Preservation”; and

• (2) Any other data recording technique adopted by the State Historic Preservation Office.

(i) “Department” means the Department of Planning and Natural Resources of the Government of the Virgin Islands.

(j) “Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer” means a representative of the State Historic Preservation Officer, designated to act on his behalf.

(k) “Excavation” means any disturbance or removal of soil or sand from terrestrial and marine environments.

(l) “Government” means the Government of the Virgin Islands.

(m) “Historic property” means any and all terrestrial and marine archaeological sites included in or eligible for inclusion in the Virgin Islands Registry of Historic Places, including any and all artifacts, objects and other remains related to and located on such sites.

(n) “Human remains” means a human body or human skeletal remains which was buried, entombed or sepulchered.

(o) “National Register” means the National Register of Historic Places, which is the federal listing of historic properties established pursuant to 36 CFR 60.

(p) “National Register criteria” means the criteria established by the Secretary of the Interior for use in evaluating the eligibility of properties for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

(q) “Navigable waters” means all water belonging to the Government of the Virgin Islands which are navigable in fact.

(r) “Registry” means the Virgin Islands Registry of Historic Places maintained for the purpose of recording historical, cultural and archaeological properties deemed worthy of preservation. Properties located in the Virgin Islands that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places shall be automatically listed in the Virgin Islands Registry.

(s) “Paleontological materials” means fossils and other paleontological specimens, both plant and animal, found in archaeological contexts.

(t) “Person” means any individual, legal entity, corporate group, association or public or private corporation, including the departments, agencies, commissions, authorities and instrumentalities of the Government of the Virgin Islands acting on their own behalf or that of others.

(u) “Permit” means a document issued by the State Historic Preservation Officer evidencing a grant of permission or a right to perform specified recovery operations under this subchapter.

(v) “Professional archaeologist” means a person who has a graduate degree in archaeology, anthropology, physical anthropology or a closely related discipline or field of study, who has at least one year of full-time professional supervisory or management experience and at least four months of supervised post-graduate field and analytical experience, and who has a demonstrated ability to complete archaeological research as evidenced by a master of arts or master of science degree and dissertation. A professional archaeologist must be certified in the appropriate area of expertise by the Society for Professional Archaeologists and meet the standards specified in Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(w) “Registered property” means property having historical, cultural or archaeological value to the Virgin Islands that has been placed in the Virgin Islands Registry on either a permanent or temporary basis.

(x) “Data recovery operation” means an undertaking authorized by a valid permit from the State Historic Preservation Officer, which may include:

• (1) The disturbance or removal of submerged antiquities or other historic or cultural properties that lie within any navigable waters that are within three miles of the mean low-tide watermark of any shoreline of the Virgin Islands; and

• (2) The disturbance and removal of any archaeological or paleontological specimens from a historical, cultural or archaeological site.

(y) “State Historic Preservation Officer” is the official of the Government of the Virgin Islands who is appointed or designated pursuant to section 101(b)(1) of the National Historic Preservation Act to administer the state historic preservation program.

(z) “Sacred site” means a site that is eligible for inclusion in the National Register because of its association with cultural or beliefs of a living community that (a) are rooted in that community’s history, and (b) are important in maintaining the continuing cultural identity of the community.

(aa) “Submerged antiquities” means any artifact, object or specimen of archaeological significance that has remained unclaimed for more than fifty (50) years and is located at or below the mean low-tide watermark in the waters of the Virgin Islands. The term does not include vessels, refuse or submerged sites of former habitation.

(bb) “Undertaking” means any project, activity or program that has been reviewed and approved by the State Historic Preservation Officer, and that can change the character or use of historic properties located in the affected area.

(cc) “Unmarked burial ground” means a location where human skeletal remains are discovered or believed to exist, but for which there exists no written historical documentation or grave markers.

(dd) “Virgin Islands” comprises all land areas and waters, including submerged land to the three-mile limit from the low-tide watermark, under the jurisdiction of the Government of the Virgin Islands.