Sacramento, CA – Assembly bill 2514, authored by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D–Monterey Park), passed out of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations today.  AB 2514 would provide state and private projects with clear and uniform procedures for the proper handling and preservation of all historical human remains. 

“I believe that there should be timely efforts to notify the public when archaeological human remains are found,” stated Assemblymember Eng. “These remains could be any one of our ancestors. All we’re asking for is dignity, fairness, and the opportunity to know about that person or ancestor whose remains have just surfaced especially in possible burial sites which have enormous historic or cultural importance.”

This measure was prompted by a recent discovery during a Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMTA) construction project. In 2005, LAMTA contractors unearthed over one hundred sets of human remains during the construction of the Gold Line Eastside Extension light rail system on Los Angeles County property near Evergreen Cemetery.  Many of the human remains were of Chinese descent and the artifacts that were discovered date back to the late 1800s and the early 1900s. 

Community groups expressed concerns that such historically important remains were held for six months before a local historical society was able to intervene.  AB 2514 establishes a procedure that would allow interested cultural or historical organizations to be notified whenever certain human remains are discovered.  Currently, such protocols exist only for Native American burial sites.

AB 2514 is scheduled to be heard next in the Assembly Floor.