Guam § 76306 - Permits.

§ 76306. Permits.

(a) Any qualified persons, firm, or corporation desiring to

conduct any type of exploration or recovery operations, in the

course of which any underwater historic property or part thereof

may be removed, displaced, or destroyed, shall first make

application to the Department for a permit to conduct such

operations.

(b) If the Department finds that the granting of such permit

is in the best interest of Guam, it may grant such applicant a permit

for such a period of time and under such conditions as the

Department deems to be in the best interest of Guam.

(c) Such permit may provide for the fair compensation to the

permittee in terms of a percentage of the reasonable cash value of

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the objects recovered or a fair share of the objects recovered, such

fair compensation or share to be determined by the Department.

(d) Superior title to all objects recovered shall be retained by

Guam unless or until they are released to the permittee by the

Department.

(e) All exploration and recovery operations undertaken

pursuant to a permit issued under this section shall be carried out

under the general supervision of the Department and in

accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed under §

76304 and in such manner that the maximum amount of historic,

scientific, archaeological, and educational information may be

recovered and preserved in addition to the physical recovery of

items.

(f) Permits may be renewed upon or prior to expiration upon

such terms as the Department may specify.

(g) Holders of permits shall be responsible for obtaining

permission of any federal agencies having jurisdiction prior to

conducting any salvaging operations.