1. (a) All persons shall conduct their activities in Texas' submerged lands in a manner designed to avoid damage to shipwrecks in Texas' submerged lands, and to protect and preserve the cultural resources of Texas.
2. (b) When a person submits an application for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the person shall describe the proposed activity in sufficient detail to enable the commission to review the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, public notice publication, and determine if the proposed activity may impact a shipwreck.
3. (c) If the proposed activity is in an area where a shipwreck is known to exist, or where there is a likelihood that a shipwreck exists, the commission may require a survey, the purpose of which is to locate shipwrecks.
4. (d) Conduct of such a survey may be recommended by the commission to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and may be required as a condition of issuance of the permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Such survey must be done under a Texas Antiquities Permit issued by the commission. The Texas Antiquities Permit is issued only to a qualified archeologist and allows the commission to monitor the quality and results of the survey.

5. (e) The commission has set the following minimum standards for conducting a survey.

   1. (1) Horizontal positioning.

      1. (A) Texas' submerged lands within bays and rivers and within one mile of shore in the Gulf of Mexico. The avoidance margin in this area is 50 meters.

         1. (i) Site-specific activities (drilling site, platform site, localized dredging, etc.). A differentially corrected global positioning system (GPS) receiver or system of equal or greater accuracy will be used for navigation and positioning. Survey line spacing will be no greater than 30 meters. The geographical extent of the survey are must be adequate to allow movement of the proposed activity such that it is outside of the avoidance margin of any significant magnetic anomaly or sonar target yet fully within the area surveyed. If avoidance of the anomaly or target is not feasible, further investigation of the anomaly or target will be required as stated in subsections (f) - (h) of this section. Such further investigation must also be conducted under a permit issued by the commission.
         2. (ii) Linear projects (pipelines, dredged channels, buried utility lines, etc.). A differentially corrected global positioning system (GPS) receiver or system of equal or greater accuracy will be used for navigation and positioning. Under guidance of the GPS, the survey boat will travel the centerline of the project route and at least one offset line no more than 30 meters each side of the centerline. The number of offset lines required will be determined by the width of the proposed activity corridor, taking into account the construction activities at the margin of the primary activity (e.g. anchor patterns of construction barges along a pipeline route), and by the size of the avoidance margin for this area. If significant magnetic anomalies or sonar targets are recorded, the proposed activity must avoid those anomalies or targets by the avoidance margin. The geographical extent of the survey area, therefore, must be adequate to allow avoidance. If avoidance of the anomaly or target is not feasible, further investigation of the anomaly or target will be required as stated in subsections (f) - (h) of this section. Such further investigation must also be conducted under a permit issued by the commission.

      2. (B) Texas' submerged lands offshore (one mile or more offshore in the Gulf of Mexico). The avoidance margin in this area is 150 meters.

         1. (i) Site-specific activities (drilling site, platform site, localized dredging, etc.). A differentially corrected global positioning system (GPS) receiver or system of equal or greater accuracy will be used for navigation and positioning. Survey line spacing will be no greater than 50 meters. The geographical extent of the survey are must be adequate to allow movement of the proposed activity such that it is outside of the avoidance margin of any significant magnetic anomaly or sonar target yet fully within the area surveyed. If avoidance of the anomaly or target is not feasible, further investigation of the anomaly or target will be required as stated in subsections (f) - (h) of this section. Such further investigation must also be conducted under a permit issued by the commission.
         2. (ii) Linear projects (pipelines, dredged channels, buried utility lines, etc.). A differentially corrected global positioning system (GPS) receiver or system of equal or greater accuracy will be used for navigation and positioning. Under guidance of the GPS, the survey boat will travel the centerline of the project route and at least one offset line no more than 50 meters each side of the centerline. The number of offset lines required will be determined by the width of the proposed activity corridor, taking into account the construction activities at the margin of the primary activity (e.g. anchor patterns of construction barges along a pipeline route), and by the size of the avoidance margin for this area. If significant magnetic anomalies or sonar targets are recorded, the proposed activity must avoid those anomalies or targets by the avoidance margin. The geographical extent of the survey area, therefore, must be adequate to allow avoidance. If avoidance of the anomaly or target is not feasible, further investigation of the anomaly or target will be required as stated in subsections (f) - (h) of this section. Such further investigation must also be conducted under a permit issued by the commission.

   2. (2) Instrumentation and Survey Procedures. Instrumentation is classified as remote sensing equipment that detects the presence of an object by its inherent physical properties or by signals reflected from the object. The preferred suite of remote sensing equipment includes a marine magnetometer, a high-resolution side-scan sonar, and a recording fathometer.

      1. (A) The magnetometer should be set to detect and record the magnetic environment at a minimum of 1-second intervals and the data should be recorded on computer disc or other appropriate computer media.
      2. (B) The side-scan sonar should use a transceiver designated as a 300 kHz transceiver minimum and should be operated in that range or higher.
      3. (C) The fathometer must be capable of recording bathymetric data either on a paper printout, or, preferably, through digital output to a computer.
      4. (D) The magnetometer, side-scan sonar, and fathometer, to the extent possible, should be interfaced, either directly or through computer files, with the global positioning system receiver to coordinate positions with the remote sensing equipment data.
   3. (3) Variance from the parameters specified in subsection (e)(1) and (2) of this section may be requested from the commission. Such variance must be based on quantifiable factors, e.g. the water is too shallow for effective use of side-scan sonar. Likewise, the commission may modify the parameters for a given survey area based on information held by the commission, e.g. survey line spacing may be decreased in the immediate vicinity of a known state archeological landmark more than one mile offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
6. (f) The commission has determined that a person who conducts a survey to determine the possible presence of hazards which would be dangerous to the safety of human life and equipment in the area where the proposed activity will be performed has also conducted a survey to determine the possible existence of shipwrecks in Texas' submerged lands, provided that the data from the survey is reviewed by a qualified archeologist under a permit issued by the commission and that such survey meets the minimum standards specified in this section.

7. (g) If a person detects a significant anomaly or sonar target as a result of conducting the survey described in this section, the person shall record a specific UTM, Latitude/Longitude, or state plane coordinate position, along with the geodetic datum in which the coordinates were recorded, and either:

   1. (1) Conduct a thorough and good faith effort to search out the object causing the anomaly or sonar target and identify whether the object might possibly be a state archeological landmark or eligible property in Texas' submerged lands. Excavation in order to make an identification at this stage of investigation is prohibited without a permit issued by the commission. Or, the person may:
   2. (2) Relocate the activity to an area outside of the appropriate avoidance margin in order to avoid disturbance of the object causing the anomaly or sonar target and thereby avoid damage to a shipwreck.
8. (h) If the person determines, through actions conducted under subsection (e) of this section, that the object causing the significant anomaly or sonar target is definitely not a shipwreck, and if the commission concurs with that determination, the person may perform the activity in a normal, routine manner.

9. (i) If the person determines, through actions conducted under subsection (e) of this section, that the object causing the significant anomaly or sonar target is a shipwreck or might be a shipwreck, the person shall either:

   1. (1) Notify the commission of the possible existence of a shipwreck or possible shipwreck, report the coordinate position to the commission and relocate the activity to an area outside of the appropriate avoidance margin in order to avoid disturbance of the object causing the significant anomaly or sonar target and thereby avoid damage to a shipwreck; or
   2. (2) Notify the commission of the possible existence of a shipwreck or possible shipwreck and report the coordinate position to the commission; whereupon the commission can perform its activities described in Subchapter C, Powers and Duties, and Subchapter E, Prohibitions, of the Antiquities Code of Texas. The commission may require additional archeological investigations of the shipwreck or possible shipwreck, or, if the commission concurs that no damage will occur to the shipwreck from the proposed activity, the commission may authorize the person to proceed with the proposed activity in a normal, routine manner.

Source Note:The provisions of this §28.5 adopted to be effective March 18, 2003, 28 TexReg 2316.