§79.15. Final determination of disposition of particular material remains. — Inbound Citations

(e) Particular material remains are considered to be of insufficient archeological interest when, on a case-by-case basis, at least one qualified archeological or museum professional who meets the Professional Qualification Standards set by the Secretary of the Interior and possesses verifiable knowledge of and experience in the type of material remains being evaluated makes a determination. The determination must follow the process established in § 79.15 and document that:

(1) Disposition of the material remains will not negatively impact the overall integrity of the original collection recovered during the survey, excavation, or other study of a prehistoric or historic resource; and

(2) lack of provenience information; lack of physical integrity; or overly redundant and not useful for research—are met:

(i) Lack of provenience information may be established after a concerted effort to recover the information in the related associated records is performed and documented and by one or more of the following circumstances:

(A) The labels on the material remains or the labels on the containers that hold the material remains do not provide adequate information to reliably establish meaningful archeological context for the material remains;

(B) The labels on the material remains or the labels on the containers that hold the material remains have been lost or destroyed over time and cannot be reconstructed through the associated records; or

(ii) Material remains lack physical integrity when, subsequent to recovery during the survey, excavation, or other study of a prehistoric or historic resource, the material remains were irreparably damaged through decay, decomposition, or inadvertent loss. Examples may include human-caused incidents, exposure to elements, or natural disaster.

(iii) Material remains are overly redundant and not useful for research in light of the collection's archeological context, research questions, and research potential. These considerations may vary based on geography, time and culture period, scientific or cultural significance, prior analysis, and other factors. Because it is difficult to predict if future analytical methods will yield useful information about the material remains proposed for disposal, a sample of the material remains deemed to be overly redundant and not useful for research must be retained for curation, as required by § 79.15(f).

(iii) Documentation that all of the procedures in § 79.15 have been met.

(c) After disposition, the accession and catalog records must be reviewed and amended through a procedure established by the Federal agency. The amendments must identify the material remains that were deaccessioned and disposed of, the date of disposition, and the manner in which they were disposed. The documentation prepared under § 79.15, § 79.16, and paragraph (a) of this section must be retained in accordance with Federal agency policy.

(1) The professional evaluation of the material remains conducted under §§ 79.12(e) and 79.15(b).

(7) Collections advisory committee members, whether permanent or temporary, and their family members may not benefit financially or in any other way from a disposition of material remains, except to the extent that members of a federally recognized Indian Tribe, when that Indian Tribe is being considered as a potential recipient of material remains, may participate in the collections advisory committee as described in § 79.15(e)(3).

(2) The report of the collections advisory committee provided under § 79.15(e)(5).

(5) The collections advisory committee must submit a written report to the Federal Agency Official for each proposed disposition that, at a minimum, documents the information required for the Federal Register notice identified in paragraphs (i)(1)(i) through (iii) of this section; membership of the committee and each member's role and expertise pertinent to the proposed disposition; a summary of any comments received on the proposed disposition under paragraph (h) of this section; the recommendations for disposition, including any conditions of transfer or conveyance; and the reasons why other methods of disposal would be of lesser public benefit.

(5) The collections advisory committee must submit a written report to the Federal Agency Official for each proposed disposition that, at a minimum, documents the information required for the Federal Register notice identified in paragraphs (i)(1)(i) through (iii) of this section; membership of the committee and each member's role and expertise pertinent to the proposed disposition; a summary of any comments received on the proposed disposition under paragraph (h) of this section; the recommendations for disposition, including any conditions of transfer or conveyance; and the reasons why other methods of disposal would be of lesser public benefit.

(iii) Material remains are overly redundant and not useful for research in light of the collection's archeological context, research questions, and research potential. These considerations may vary based on geography, time and culture period, scientific or cultural significance, prior analysis, and other factors. Because it is difficult to predict if future analytical methods will yield useful information about the material remains proposed for disposal, a sample of the material remains deemed to be overly redundant and not useful for research must be retained for curation, as required by § 79.15(f).

(3) Notifications of the proposed disposition under § 79.15(h); consent of Indian individuals or tribes, if applicable, under § 79.13(a)(2); and comments received from the parties notified under § 79.15(h).

Disposition will occur no sooner than 60 days after the notice of determination of disposition is published in the Federal Register under § 79.15(i). If the Federal agency receives an objection under § 79.16, then disposition will occur no sooner than 30 days after the notice of decision on the objection and any amendments are published in the Federal Register under § 79.16(f).

(b) The Departmental Consulting Archeologist must review the objection, and the Federal Agency Official's determination of disposition in § 79.15(i)(2).