Any person proposing to excavate and/or remove archaeological resources from public lands, and to carry out activities associated with such excavation and/or removal, shall apply to the Commissioner for a permit for the proposed work, and shall not begin the proposed work until a permit has been issued. The Commissioner may issue a permit to any qualified person, subject to appropriate terms and conditions, provided that the person applying for a permit meets conditions in § 1104.7(a) of this part.

Exceptions:

No permit shall be required under this part for any person conducting activities on the public lands under other permits, leases, licenses, or entitlements for use, when those activities are exclusively for purposes other than the excavation and/or removal of archaeological resources, even though those activities might incidentally result in the disturbance of archaeological resources. General earth-moving excavation conducted under a permit or other authorization shall not be construed to mean excavation and/or removal as used in this part. This exception does not, however, affect the Commissioner's responsibility to comply with other authorities which protect archaeological resources prior to approving permits, leases, licenses, or entitlements for use; any excavation and/or removal of archaeological resources required for compliance with those authorities shall be conducted in accordance with the permit requirements of this part.

No permit shall be required under this part for any person collecting for private purposes any rock, coin, bullet, or mineral which is not an archaeological resource as defined in this part, provided that such collecting does not result in disturbance of any archaeological resource.

No permit shall be required under section 3 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (16 U.S.C. 432) for any archaeological work for which a permit is issued under this part.

Persons carrying out official agency duties under the Commissioner's direction, associated with the management of archaeological resources, need not follow the permit application procedures of § 1104.5. However, the Commissioner shall insure that provisions of §§ 1104.7 and 1104.8 have been met by other documented means, and that any official duties which might result in harm to or destruction of any Indian tribal religious or cultural site, as determined by the Commissioner, have been the subject of consideration under § 1104.6.

Upon the written request of the Governor of any State, on behalf of the State or its educational institutions, the Commissioner shall issue a permit, subject to the provisions of §§ 1104.4(b)(5), 1104.6, 1104.7(a) (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7), 1104.8, 1104.9, 1104.11, and 1104.12(a) to such Governor or to such designee as the Governor deems qualified to carry out the intent of the Act, for purposes of conducting archaeological research, excavating and/or removing archaeological resources, and safeguarding and preserving any materials and data collected in a university, museum, or other scientific or educational institution approved by the Commissioner.

Under other statutory, regulatory, or administrative authorities governing the use of public lands, authorizations may be required for activities which do not require a permit under this part. Any person wishing to conduct on public lands any activities related to but believed to fall outside the scope of this part should consult with the Commissioner, for the purpose of determining whether any authorization is required, prior to beginning such activities.