N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 1518*2: Natural organic reduction facility operations

* § 1518. Natural organic reduction facility operations.

Cemetery corporations that operate a natural organic reduction

facility shall have the following duties and obligations:

(a) Maintenance and privacy. (1) A natural organic reduction facility

shall be maintained in a clean, orderly, and sanitary manner, with

adequate ventilation and shall have a temporary storage area available

to store the remains of deceased human beings pending disposition by

natural organic reduction, the interior of which shall not be accessible

to the general public.

(2) Entrances and windows of the facility shall be maintained at all

times to secure privacy, including (i) doors shall be tightly closed and

rigid; (ii) windows shall be covered; and (iii) entrances shall be

locked and secured when not actively attended by authorized facility

personnel.

(b) Natural organic reduction process. (1) The natural organic

reduction process shall be conducted in privacy. No person except

authorized persons shall be admitted into the reduction area, holding

facility, or the temporary storage facility while the remains of

deceased human beings are being naturally organically reduced.

Authorized persons, on admittance, shall comply with all rules of the

cemetery corporation and not infringe upon the privacy of the remains of

deceased human beings.

(2) The following are authorized persons: (i) licensed, registered

funeral directors, registered residents, and enrolled students of

mortuary science; (ii) officers and trustees of the cemetery

corporation; (iii) authorized employees or their authorized agents of

the cemetery corporation; (iv) public officers acting in the discharge

of their duties; (v) authorized instructors of funeral directing

schools; (vi) licensed physicians or nurses; and (vii) members of the

immediate family of the deceased and their authorized agents and

designated representatives.

(c) Identification of deceased human beings. (1) No natural organic

reduction facility shall naturally organically reduce the remains of any

deceased human being without the accompanying natural organic reduction

permit, required pursuant to section forty-one hundred forty-five of the

public health law which permit shall constitute presumptive evidence of

the identity of the said remains. In addition, all natural organic

reduction facilities situated outside the city of New York, must comply

with paragraph (b) of subdivision two of section forty-one hundred

forty-five of the public health law pertaining to the receipt for the

deceased human being. From the time of such delivery to the natural

organic reduction facility, until the time the natural organic reduction

facility distributes the remains as directed, the facility shall be

responsible for the remains of the deceased human being. Further, a

natural organic reduction authorization form shall accompany the permit

required in section forty-one hundred forty-five of the public health

law. This form, provided or approved by the facility, shall be signed by

the next of kin or authorizing agent attesting to the permission for the

natural organic reduction of the deceased, and disclosing to the natural

organic reduction facility that such body does not contain a battery,

battery pack, power cell, radioactive implant, or radioactive device, if

any, and that these materials were removed prior to the natural organic

reduction process.

(2) Upon good cause being shown rebutting the presumption of the

identity of such remains, the natural organic reduction shall not

commence until reasonable confirmation of the identity of the deceased

human being is made. This proof may be in the form of, but not limited

to, a signed affidavit from a licensed physician, a member of the family

of the deceased human being, the authorizing agent or a court order from

the state supreme court within the county of the cemetery corporation.

Such proof shall be provided by the authorizing agent.

(3) The facility shall have a written plan to assure that the

identification established by the natural organic reduction permit

accompanies the remains of the deceased human being through the natural

organic reduction process and until the identity of the deceased is

accurately and legibly inscribed on the container in which the remains

are placed.

(d) Opening of a container holding the remains of the deceased human

being. (1) The remains of a deceased human being shall be delivered to

the natural organic reduction facility in an alternative container or in

external wrappings sufficient to contain the remains and also designed

to fully decompose in the natural reduction process. Such alternative

container or external wrappings holding the remains of the deceased

human being shall not be opened after delivery to the natural organic

reduction facility unless there exists good cause to confirm the

identity of the deceased, or to assure that no material is enclosed

which might cause injury to employees or damage to natural organic

reduction facility property, or upon reasonable demand by members of the

immediate family or the authorized agent.

(2) In such instances in which alternative container or wrappings are

opened after delivery to the natural organic reduction facility, such

action shall only be conducted by the licensed funeral director or

registered resident delivering the remains of the deceased human being

and a record shall be made, which shall include the reason for such

action, the signature of the person authorizing the opening thereof, and

the names of the person opening the container or wrappings and the

witness thereto, which shall be retained in the permanent file of the

natural organic reduction facility. The opening of the container or

wrapping shall be conducted in the presence of the witness and shall

comply with all rules and regulations intended to protect the health and

safety of natural organic reduction facility personnel.

(e) Ceremonial casket natural organic reduction disclosure. In those

instances in which the remains of deceased human beings are to be

delivered to a natural organic reduction facility in a casket or other

container that is not to be naturally organically reduced with the

deceased, timely disclosure thereof must be made by the person making

the funeral arrangements to the natural organic reduction facility that

prior to natural organic reduction the remains of the deceased human

being shall be transferred to a container or in external wrappings

sufficient to contain the remains and also designed to fully decompose

in the natural reduction process. Such signed acknowledgement of the

authorizing person, that the timely disclosure has been made, shall be

retained by the natural organic reduction facility in its permanent

records.

(f) Transferring remains. (1) The remains of a deceased human being

shall not be removed from the casket, alternative container, or external

wrappings in which it is delivered to the natural organic reduction

facility unless explicit, signed authorization is provided by the person

making funeral arrangements or by a public officer discharging their

statutory duty, which signed authorization shall be retained by the

natural organic reduction facility in its permanent records.

(2) When the remains of a deceased human being are to be transferred

to an alternative container, the transfer shall be conducted in privacy

with dignity and respect and by the licensed funeral director or

registered resident who delivered those remains. The transferring

operation shall comply with all rules and regulations intended to

protect the health and safety of facility personnel.

(g) Commingling human remains. The natural organic reduction of

remains of more than one deceased human being in a reduction container

at any one time is unlawful, except upon the explicit, signed

authorization provided by the persons making funeral arrangements and

the signed approval of the natural organic reduction facility, which

shall be retained by the natural organic reduction facility in its

permanent records.

(h) Processing of remains. (1) Upon the completion of the natural

organic reduction of the remains of a deceased human being, the interior

of the natural organic reduction container shall be thoroughly swept or

otherwise cleaned so as to render the natural organic reduction

container reasonably free of all matter. The contents thereof shall be

placed into an individual container and not commingled with other

remains. The natural organic reduction permit shall be attached to the

individual container preparatory to final processing.

(2) A magnet and sieve, or other appropriate method of separation, may

be used to divide the remains from unrecognizable incidental or foreign

material.

(3) The incidental and foreign material of the natural organic

reduction process shall be disposed of in a safe manner in compliance

with all sanitary rules and regulations as byproducts.

(4) The remains shall be pulverized until no single fragment is

recognizable as skeletal tissue.

(5) The pulverized remains shall be transferred to a container or to

multiple containers, if so requested in writing by the person making the

funeral arrangements for the natural organic reduction. Such container

or containers shall have inside dimensions of suitable size to contain

the remains of the person who was naturally organically reduced.

(6) The prescribed container or containers shall be accurately and

legibly labeled with the identification of the human being whose remains

are contained therein, in a manner acceptable to the division of

cemeteries.

(i) Disposition of remains. The authorizing agent shall be responsible

for the final disposition of the remains. Disposition of remains

resulting from the natural organic reduction process are not recoverable

once scattered or interred. Remains shall be disposed of by scattering

them in a designated scattering garden or area in a cemetery, or by

prior authorization by the cemetery corporation, by placing them in a

grave, crypt, or niche, or retrieval of the remains pursuant to prior

authorization by the authorizing agent or a person specifically

designated by the authorizing agent. Upon completion of the natural

organic reduction process, the cemetery corporation shall notify the

authorizing agent and funeral firm making such arrangements that the

natural organic reduction process has been completed and that the

remains are prepared to be disposed of in accordance with this

paragraph. Upon receipt of the remains, the individual receiving them

may transport them in any manner in the state without a permit, and may

dispose of them in accordance with this section. After disposition, the

cemetery corporation shall be discharged from any legal obligation or

liability to deliver the remains to the authorizing agent or any other

person enumerated under paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section

forty-two hundred one of the public health law concerning the remains.

If, after a period of one hundred twenty days from the date of the

natural organic reduction, the authorizing agent has not instructed the

cemetery corporation to arrange for the final disposition of the remains

or claimed the remains, the cemetery corporation may dispose of the

remains in any manner permitted by this section. The cemetery

corporation, however, shall keep a permanent record identifying the site

of final disposition. The authorizing agent shall be responsible for

reimbursing the cemetery corporation for all reasonable expenses

incurred in disposing of the remains. Upon disposing of the remains, the

cemetery corporation shall be discharged from any legal obligation or

liability to deliver the remains to the authorizing agent or any other

person enumerated under paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section

forty-two hundred one of the public health law concerning the remains.

Except with the express written permission of the authorizing agent, no

person shall place remains of more than one person in the same temporary

container or urn.

(j) Natural organic reduction facility operation certification. Any

employee of a natural organic reduction facility whose function is to

conduct the daily operations of the cremation or natural organic

reduction process shall be certified by an organization approved by the

division of cemeteries. Proof of such certification shall be posted in

the natural organic reduction facility and available for inspection at

any time. Any new employees of a natural organic reduction facility

required to be certified under this section shall be certified within

one year of their employment. Any employees of a natural organic

reduction facility required to be certified under this section and

retained prior to the effective date of this paragraph shall be

certified within one year of such effective date. Renewal of such

certification shall be completed every five years from the date of

certification.

(k) The cemetery board, in consultation with the department of health,

the department of environmental conservation, and any other state agency

deemed necessary, may promulgate rules and regulations consistent with

law to effectuate the provisions of this section.

* NB There are 2 § 1518's