---
kind: "section"
citation: "54 U.S.C. § 320302"
title: "54"
title_heading: "National Park Service and Related Programs"
number: "320302"
heading: "Permits"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/54/320302"
units:
  - "Subtitle III — National Preservation Programs"
  - "Division C — American Antiquities"
  - "Chapter 3203 — Monuments, Ruins, Sites, and Objects of Antiquity"
---

# §320302. Permits

- (a) **Authority To Grant Permit.—** The [Secretary](/usc/54/308101.md?p=1), the [Secretary](/usc/54/308101.md?p=1) of Agriculture, or the [Secretary](/usc/54/308101.md?p=1) of the Army may grant a permit for the examination of ruins, the excavation of archeological sites, and the gathering of objects of antiquity on land under their respective jurisdictions to an institution that the [Secretary](/usc/54/308101.md?p=1) concerned considers properly qualified to conduct the examination, excavation, or gathering, subject to such regulations as the [Secretary](/usc/54/308101.md?p=1) concerned may prescribe.
- (b) **Purpose of Examination, Excavation, or Gathering.—** A permit may be granted only if—
  - (1) the examination, excavation, or gathering is undertaken for the benefit of a reputable museum, university, college, or other recognized scientific or educational institution, with a view to increasing the knowledge of the objects; and
  - (2) the gathering shall be made for permanent preservation in a public museum.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 113–287, § 3, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3260.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 320302 | 16 U.S.C. 432 (1st sentence). | June 8, 1906, ch. 3060, § 3, 34 Stat. 225; July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, § 205(a), 61 Stat. 501. |

In subsection (a), section 205(a) of the National Security Act of 1947 (ch. 343, 61 Stat. 501) was repealed by section 53 of the Act of August 10, 1956 (ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 676). Section 1 of the Act of August 10, 1956 (70A Stat. 1), enacted Title 10, “Armed Forces”, and under sections 3010 to 3013 of title 10, the Department of the Army remains under the administrative supervision of the Secretary of the Army.