The Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department may enter into a cooperative agreement with a State or local government or other entity for the preservation, management, maintenance, and improvement of cultural resources located on a site authorized by subsection (b) and for the conduct of research regarding the cultural resources. Activities under the cooperative agreement shall be subject to the availability of funds to carry out the cooperative agreement.

To be covered by a cooperative agreement under subsection (a), cultural resources must be located—

(1) on a military installation; or

(2) on a site outside of a military installation, but only if the cooperative agreement will directly relieve or eliminate current or anticipated restrictions that would or might restrict, impede, or otherwise interfere, whether directly or indirectly, with current or anticipated military training, testing, or operations on a military installation.

Section 1535 and chapter 63 of title 31 shall not apply to a cooperative agreement entered into under this section.

In this section, the term “cultural resource” means any of the following:

(1) A building, structure, site, district, or object eligible for or included in the National Register of Historic Places maintained under section 302101 of title 54.

(2) Cultural items, as that term is defined in section 2(3) of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. 3001(3)).

(3) An archaeological resource, as that term is defined in section 3(1) of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470bb(1)).

(4) An archaeological artifact collection and associated records covered by section 79 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations.

(5) An Indian sacred site, as defined in section 1(b)(iii) of Executive Order No. 13007.

(Added Pub. L. 104–201, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2862(a), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2804; amended Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title X, § 1073(a)(58), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1903; Pub. L. 110–181, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2824, Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 545; Pub. L. 113–287, § 5(b), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3264; Pub. L. 114–92, div. A, title X, § 1081(a)(10), Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 1001.)