The competent authorities shall periodically conduct general surveys of, or accept reports from individuals or organizations on, any sites and scopes deserving of the designation of archaeological sites, and shall review, record and trace in accordance with the procedures stipulated by law.
The competent authorities may review the traced sites under Paragraph 1 of this Article according to the procedures set forth in Article 46.

The competent authorities shall set up complete files of the investigation, research, excavation and restoration of archaeological sites.

In order to preserve and conserve archaeological sites, the competent authorities may train the relevant professionals, and establish systematic supervising and reporting mechanism.

Archaeological sites shall be categorized as national, municipal, county or city archaeological sites, depending on the level of their competent authorities.
Where an archaeological site is designated by the municipal, county or city government, it shall be reviewed, designated and announced as such by their competent authorities and reported to the central competent authority for recordation.
The central competent authority may review municipal, county or city archaeological sites designated in accordance with the preceding paragraph or in response to reports by competent authorities of various levels, individuals or organizations, and designate and announce the same as national archaeological sites.
In the event that an archaeological site is destroyed or its value diminishes or increases, Paragraph 4 of Article 17 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
The regulations for designation criteria of archaeological sites or revocation of such designations, the procedures for reviewing applications for designation of archaeological sites, and other compliance requirements shall be stipulated by the central competent authority.

Where a site deserving of the designation of an archaeological site is catalogued and traced in accordance with Article 43, the municipal, county or city competent authority shall be responsible for supervision over the site before the conclusion of the review and designation procedure so as to protect the site from being destroyed.
Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 48 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the supervision, safeguarding and protection of traced archaeological sites under the preceding paragraph.

The competent authorities shall draft archaeological site supervision and preservation plans to supervise and preserve archaeological sites.
The competent authorities may delegate their subordinate agencies (institutions) or appoint other agencies (institutions), or civil groups or individuals engaging in cultural heritage research to conduct the supervision and preservation of archaeological sites under the preceding paragraph. The central competent authority may delegate municipal, county or city competent authorities to conduct such supervision and preservation.
The regulations for supervising and preserving archaeological sites shall be stipulated by the central competent authority.

In order to conserve archaeological sites and preserve their environments and landscapes, the competent authorities may, together with other authorities concerned, draft plans for preservation of archaeological sites, classify, designate, or reclassify the sties as special reserved land or zones or other functional land or sub-zones in accordance with the Regional Planning Act, the Urban Planning Act or the National Park Act, and preserve and conserve such archaeological sites in accordance with this Act.
The regulations governing the scopes, the manner of use, and conservation of the landscapes of the archaeological site preservation land or zones and other functional land or sub-zones set forth in the preceding paragraph may be stipulated after considering the actual conditions, and incentive measures may be offered, if necessary.
The competent authority may appropriate or expropriate the land which is classified as archaeological sites preservation land and zones and other functional land or sub-zones.

Apart from archaeological sites managed by government agencies, where the buildable capacity of any land designated as archaeological sites or archaeological site preservation land or zones or other functional land or sub-zones to be utilized in connection with archaeological site preservation becomes restricted as the result of the designation of such archaeological sites or archaeological site preservation land or zones, or the classification, designation or reclassification of other functional land or sub-zones, then the portion of the buildable capacity thus restricted may be transferred in the equivalent amount to other places for construction purposes or, alternatively, other incentives may be offered to the owners of the land. The regulations for offering the above incentives shall be stipulated by the Ministry of the Interior together with the Ministry of Culture.
The "other places" as referred to in the preceding paragraph shall mean the land in major urban planning zones or the regional planning zones in the same municipality, county or city. Nevertheless, with the approval of the Urban Planning Commission of the Ministry of the Interior, transfer may be made to any other major regional planning zone within the same county or city.
Once buildable capacities have been transferred in accordance with the first paragraph, the designation of the archaeological site, or the control over the archaeological site preservation land or zones or other functional land or sub-zones shall not be revoked without due causes.

For excavation of archaeological sites, applications shall be filed by scholars, experts, or academic or professional institutions with the competent authorities, and such excavation shall commence only after the applications have passed the review of the review committees and approved by the competent authorities.
An excavator under the preceding paragraph shall produce an excavation report within the time limit stipulated by the competent authority, file the report with the competent authority for recordation, and publish the report.
The competent authorities shall promote the constructive use of archaeological sites where excavation has been completed, and open the archaeological sites to the public to an appropriate extent.
The regulations for restrictions on the qualifications of excavators of archaeological sites, the excavation terms, the review procedures, and other compliance requirements shall be stipulated by the central competent authority.

Foreigners may not investigate or excavate any archaeological sites within the territorial land of the Republic of China, provided that with the approval of the central competent authority, foreigners may cooperate with domestic academic or professional institutions in conducting such investigation or excavation.

Antiquities obtained from the excavation of archaeological sites shall be recorded and filed by the excavators, and delivered to the antiquity custodians designated by the competent authorities for safekeeping.

Where the competent authorities consider it necessary to access publicly or private land for the purpose of protection, investigation or excavation of archaeological sites, prior notices shall be given to the owners, users or managers of such land. Unless there is justification, the owners, users or managers of such land shall not evade, obstruct or reject such protection, investigation or excavation activities.
The competent authorities shall properly compensate the owners of the land of archaeological sites for their losses as a result of the activities under the preceding paragraph. The compensation amount shall be negotiated by the authorities and the owners. If the negotiations fail, the land owners may institute lawsuits before the administrative court to claim such payment.

Prior to the transfer of the title to the land on which an archaeological site is erected, a prior notice shall be given to the competent authority. Where the land is privately owned, the competent authority shall have the right of first refusal to purchase the land on the same terms and conditions offered to the potential transferees, except for transfer to the heirs.

Where government agencies, public schools and state-owned enterprises handle the investigation, research or excavation of archaeological sites, the regulations for relevant procurement methods, types, procedures and scopes, the qualifications of the staff, and other compliance requirements shall be stipulated by the central competent authority and are exempt from the restrictions under the Government Procurement Act, but shall not defy any treaties or protocols signed by the Republic of China.

Any discovery of possible archaeological sites shall be forthwith reported to the municipal, county or city competent authorities at the locales of such possible archaeological sites for taking necessary protection measures.
If a possible archaeological site is discovered in the course of a construction project or other land development work, such construction or development work shall be immediately suspended and the discovery shall be reported to the municipal, county or city competent authority at the locale of such possible archaeological site.
Besides the measures under the preceding paragraph, the competent authority shall forthwith conduct investigations, submit the case for review by the review committee, and take other relevant measures. Before the conclusion of the review procedure, the developer shall not resume the development activities.

The competent authorities of archaeological sites shall be consulted before urban plans for the locales where such archaeological sites are located are drafted or amended.
Significant construction plans drafted by government agencies shall not obstruct the preservation or conservation of any archaeological sites. The government agencies shall investigate in advance whether any archaeological sites, traced archaeological sites or possible archaeological sites exist in the construction areas. If any site is discovered, it shall be forthwith reported to the competent authority for handling in accordance with the review procedures stipulated in Article 46.

Articles 51 to 54 and Article 56 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the protection, investigation, research, excavation and procurement of or regarding possible archaeological sites and catalogued archaeological sites, and custody of antiquities obtained from such excavation.