§ 233. State Museum; collections made by the staff. 1. All scientific
specimens and collections, works of art, objects of historic interest
and similar property appropriate to a general museum, if owned by the
state and not placed in other custody by a specific law, shall
constitute the collections of the state museum. The state museum shall
be the custodian of the collections, shall perform standard curatorial,
research and educational activities and a director appointed by the
regents shall constitute its head.

2. Any scientific collection made by a member of the museum staff
during his term of office shall, unless otherwise authorized by
resolution of the regents, belong to the state and form part of the
state museum.

3. The state of New York, through its legislative authority accepts
the provisions of section one hundred twenty of the federal-aid highway
act of nineteen hundred fifty-six (70 Stat. 374) relating to the salvage
of archaeological or paleontological objects, including but not limited
to ruins, historic sites, Indian burial grounds, cemeteries, buildings,
artifacts, fossils or, other objects of antiquity having national
significance from an historical, cultural, social or scientific
standpoint, and empowers and directs the commissioner of education to
promulgate joint regulations with the department of environmental
conservation, the office of general services, and the office of parks,
recreation and historic preservation and make agreements with those and
other appropriate state departments or agencies and such agency or
agencies as needed to carry out the purposes of such provision of law.

4. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision three of this section,
no person shall investigate, excavate, remove, injure, appropriate or
destroy any object of archaeological, historical, cultural, social,
scientific or paleontological interest, situated on, in or under lands
owned by the state of New York, without the written permission of the
commissioner of education. A violation of this provision shall
constitute a class A misdemeanor. The attorney general, either
independently or upon referral from a state agency, shall seek civil
and/or criminal prosecution, civil and/or criminal penalties and any
other relief, including but not limited to seizure and forfeiture of the
appropriate items, and forfeiture of the instrumentalities of the
unauthorized actions on state lands. The discovery of any such objects
shall be forthwith reported to the commissioner by the state department
or agency having jurisdiction over such lands.

5. Permits for the examination, excavation or gathering of
archaeological, historical, cultural, social, scientific or
paleontological objects upon the lands under their respective
jurisdictions may be granted by the heads of those state departments or
agencies to persons authorized by the commissioner of education for the
purposes of the state museum and state science service, for the purpose
of the preservation of any such objects worthy of permanent preservation
and, in all cases, to the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge
relating thereto.