AN ACT Relating to archaeological objects and sites; the protection of Indian and historic graves; amending RCW 27.53.030 and 27.53.060; adding new sections to chapter 27.44 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 68.05 RCW; creating new sections; repealing RCW 27.44.010; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. INTENT. The legislature hereby declares that:

(1) Native Indian burial grounds and historic graves are acknowledged to be a finite, irreplaceable, and nonrenewable cultural resource, and are an intrinsic part of the cultural heritage of the people of Washington. The legislature recognizes the value and importance of respecting all graves, and the spiritual significance of such sites to the people of this state;

(2) There have been reports and incidents of deliberate interference with native Indian and historic graves for profit-making motives;

(3) There has been careless indifference in cases of accidental disturbance of sites, graves, and burial grounds;

(4) Indian burial sites, cairns, glyptic markings, and historic graves located on public and private land are to be protected and it is therefore the legislature's intent to encourage voluntary reporting and respectful handling in cases of accidental disturbance and provide enhanced penalties for deliberate desecration.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. PROTECTION OF INDIAN GRAVES. (1) Any person who knowingly removes, mutilates, defaces, injures, or destroys any cairn or grave of any native Indian, or any glyptic or painted record of any tribe or peoples is guilty of a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW. Persons disturbing native Indian graves through inadvertence, including disturbance through construction, mining, logging, agricultural activity, or any other activity, shall reinter the human remains under the supervision of the appropriate Indian tribe. The expenses of reinternment are to be paid by the office of archaeology and historic preservation pursuant to RCW 27.34.220.

(2) Any person who sells any native Indian artifacts or any human remains that are known to have been taken from an Indian cairn or grave, is guilty of a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW.

(3) This section does not apply to:

(a) The possession or sale of native Indian artifacts discovered in or taken from locations other than native Indian cairns or graves, or artifacts that were removed from cairns or graves as may be authorized by RCW 27.53.060 or by other than human action; or

(b) Actions taken in the performance of official law enforcement duties.

(4) It shall be a complete defense in the prosecution under this section if the defendant can prove by a preponderance of evidence that the alleged acts were accidental or inadvertent and that reasonable efforts were made to preserve the remains, glyptic, or painted records, or artifacts accidentally disturbed or discovered, and that the accidental discovery or disturbance was properly reported.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. CIVIL ACTION BY INDIAN TRIBE OR MEMBER‑-TIME FOR COMMENCING ACTION‑-VENUE‑-DAMAGES‑-ATTORNEYS' FEES. (1) Apart from any criminal prosecution, an Indian tribe or enrolled member thereof, shall have a civil action to secure an injunction, damages, or other appropriate relief against any person who is alleged to have violated section 2 of this act. The action must be brought within two years of the discovery of the violation by the plaintiff. The action may be filed in the superior or tribal court of the county in which the grave, cairn, remains, or artifacts are located, or in the superior court of the county within which the defendant resides.

(2) Any conviction pursuant to section 2 of this act shall be prima facia evidence in an action brought under this section.

(3) If the plaintiff prevails:

(a) The court may award reasonable attorneys' fees to the plaintiff;

(b) The court may grant injunctive or such other equitable relief as is appropriate, including forfeiture of any artifacts or remains acquired or equipment used in the violation. The court shall order the disposition of any items forfeited as the court sees fit, including the reinternment of human remains;

(c) The plaintiff shall recover imputed damages of five hundred dollars or actual damages, whichever is greater. Actual damages include special and general damages, which include damages for emotional distress;

(d) The plaintiff may recover punitive damages upon proof that the violation was willful. Punitive damages may be recovered without proof of actual damages. All punitive damages shall be paid by the defendant to the office of archaeology and historic preservation for the purposes of Indian historic preservation and to cover the cost of reinternment expenses by the office; and

(e) An award of imputed or punitive damages may be made only once for a particular violation by a particular person, but shall not preclude the award of such damages based on violations by other persons or on other violations.

(4) If the defendant prevails, the court may award reasonable attorneys' fees to the defendant.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. "HISTORIC GRAVE" DEFINED. "Historic grave" as used in this chapter means a grave or graves that were placed outside a cemetery dedicated pursuant to chapter 68.24 RCW, prior to passage of this section; except Indian graves and burial cairns protected under chapter 27.44 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. PROTECTION OF HISTORIC GRAVES. (1) Any person who knowingly removes, mutilates, defaces, injures, or destroys any historic grave shall be guilty of a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW. Persons disturbing historic graves through inadvertence, including disturbance through construction, shall reinter the human remains under the supervision of the cemetery board. Expenses to reinter such human remains are to be provided by the office of archaeology and historic preservation.

(2) This section does not apply to actions taken in the performance of official law enforcement duties.

(3) It shall be a complete defense in a prosecution under subsection (1) of this section if the defendant can prove by a preponderance of evidence that the alleged acts were accidental or inadvertent and that reasonable efforts were made to preserve the remains accidentally disturbed or discovered, and that the accidental discovery or disturbance was properly reported.

Sec. 6. Section 3, chapter 134, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. as last amended by section 2, chapter 124, Laws of 1988 and RCW 27.53.030 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions contained in this section shall apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Archaeology" means systematic, scientific study of man's past through material remains.

(2) "Archaeological object" means an object that comprises the physical evidence of an indigenous and subsequent culture including material remains of past human life including monuments, symbols, tools, facilities, and technological by-products.

(3) "Archaeological site" means a geographic locality in Washington, including but not limited to, submerged and submersible lands and the bed of the sea within the state's jurisdiction, that contains archaeological objects.

(4) "Department" means the department of community development.

((~~(3)~~)) (5) "Director" means the director of community development or the director's designee.

((~~(4)~~)) (6) "Historic" means peoples and cultures who are known through written documents in their own or other languages. As applied to underwater archaeological resources, the term historic shall include only those properties which are listed in or eligible for listing in the Washington State Register of Historic Places (RCW 27.34.220) or the National Register of Historic Places as defined in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Title 1, Sec. 101, Public Law 89-665; 80 Stat. 915; 16 U.S.C. Sec. 470) as now or hereafter amended.

((~~(5)~~)) (7) "Prehistoric" means peoples and cultures who are unknown through contemporaneous written documents in any language.

((~~(6)~~)) (8) "Professional archaeologist" means a person who has met the educational, training, and experience requirements of the society of professional archaeologists.

((~~(7)~~)) (9) "Qualified archaeologist" means a person who has had formal training and/or experience in archaeology over a period of at least three years, and has been certified in writing to be a qualified archaeologist by two professional archaeologists.

((~~(8)~~)) (10) "Amateur society" means any organization composed primarily of persons who are not professional archaeologists, whose primary interest is in the archaeological resources of the state, and which has been certified in writing by two professional archaeologists.

((~~(9)~~)) (11) "Historic archaeological resources" means those properties which are listed in or eligible for listing in the Washington State Register of Historic Places (RCW 27.34.220) or the National Register of Historic Places as defined in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Title 1, Sec. 101, Public Law 89-665; 80 Stat. 915; 16 U.S.C. Sec. 470) as now or hereafter amended.

Sec. 7. Section 6, chapter 134, Laws of 1975 1st ex. sess. as last amended by section 4, chapter 124, Laws of 1988 and RCW 27.53.060 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) On the private and public lands of this state it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or any agency or institution of the state or a political subdivision thereof to knowingly remove, alter, dig into, or excavate by use of any mechanical, hydraulic, or other means, or to damage, deface, or destroy any historic or prehistoric archaeological resource or site, ((including, but not limited to, American Indian or aboriginal camp site, dwelling site, rock shelter, cave dwelling site, storage site, grave, burial site, or skeletal remains and grave goods, cairn, or tool making site, or to remove from any such land, site, or area, grave, burial site, cave, rock shelter, or cairn, any skeletal remains, artifact or implement of stone, bone, wood, or any other material, including, but not limited to, projectile points, arrowheads, knives, awls, scrapers, beads or ornaments, basketry, matting, mauls, pestles, grinding stones, rock carvings or paintings, or any other artifacts or implements, or portions or fragments thereof)) or remove any archaeological object from such site, except for Indian graves or cairns, or any glyptic or painted record of any tribe or peoples, or historic graves as defined in chapter 68.05 RCW, disturbances of which shall be a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW, without having obtained a written permit from the director for such activities ((~~on public property or written permission from the private landowner for such activities on private land. A private landowner may request the director to assume the duty of issuing such permits~~)).

(2) The director must obtain the consent of the private or public property owner or agency responsible for the management thereof, prior to issuance of the permit. The ((~~public~~)) property ((~~landowner~~)) owner or agency responsible for the management of such land may condition its consent on the execution of a separate agreement, lease, or other real property conveyance with the applicant as may be necessary to carry out the legal rights or duties of the public property landowner or agency. The director, in consultation with the ((~~Washington state archaeological research center~~)) affected tribes, shall develop guidelines for the issuance and processing of permits. Such written permit and any agreement or lease or other conveyance required by any public property owner or agency responsible for management of such land shall be physically present while any such activity is being conducted. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the removal of artifacts found exposed on the surface of the ground which are not historic archaeological resources or sites.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 27.44 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 4 and 5 of this act are each added to chapter 68.05 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Section captions used in this act do not constitute any part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act is to be liberally construed to achieve the legislature's intent.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Section 1, chapter 216, Laws of 1941 and RCW 27.44.010 are each repealed.