N.Y. NPC Law § 1517 — New York Code / Act NPC / Article 15 / Section 1517
Crematory operations
Status: in_force

§ 1517. Crematory operations.\n  Cemetery corporations that operate a crematory shall have the\nfollowing duties and obligations:\n  (a) Maintenance and privacy. (1) A crematory facility shall be\nmaintained in a clean, orderly, and sanitary manner, with adequate\nventilation and shall have a temporary storage area available to store\nthe remains of deceased human beings pending disposition by cremation,\nthe interior of which shall not be accessible to the general public.\n  (2) Entrances and windows of the crematory facility shall be\nmaintained at all times to secure privacy, including (i) doors shall be\ntightly closed and rigid; (ii) windows shall be covered; and (iii)\nentrances shall be locked and secured when not actively attended by\nauthorized crematory personnel.\n  (b) Cremation process. (1) The cremation process shall be conducted in\nprivacy. No person except authorized persons shall be admitted into the\nretort area, holding facility, or the temporary storage facility while\nthe remains of deceased human beings are being cremated. Authorized\npersons, on admittance, shall comply with all rules of the crematory\ncorporation and not infringe upon the privacy of the remains of deceased\nhuman beings.\n  (2) The following are authorized persons: (i) licensed, registered\nfuneral directors, registered residents, and enrolled students of\nmortuary science; (ii) officers and trustees of the cemetery\ncorporation; (iii) authorized employees or their authorized agents of\nthe cemetery corporation; (iv) public officers acting in the discharge\nof their duties; (v) authorized instructors of funeral directing\nschools; (vi) licensed physicians or nurses; and (vii) members of the\nimmediate family of the deceased and their authorized agents and\ndesignated representatives.\n  (c) Identification of deceased human beings. (1) No crematory shall\ncremate the remains of any deceased human being without the accompanying\ncremation permit, required pursuant to section four thousand one hundred\nforty-five of the public health law which permit shall constitute\npresumptive evidence of the identity of the said remains. In addition,\nall crematories situated outside the city of New York, must comply with\nparagraph (b) of subdivision two of section four thousand one hundred\nforty-five of the public health law pertaining to the receipt for the\ndeceased human being. From the time of such delivery to the crematory,\nuntil the time the crematory delivers the cremains as directed, the\ncrematory shall be responsible for the remains of the deceased human\nbeing. Further, a cremation authorization form must accompany the permit\nrequired in section four thousand one hundred forty-five of the public\nhealth law. This form, provided or approved by the crematory, must be\nsigned by the next of kin or authorizing agent attesting to the\npermission for the cremation of the deceased, and disclosing to the\ncrematory that such body does not contain a battery, battery pack, power\ncell, radioactive implant, or radioactive device, if any, and that these\nmaterials were removed prior to the cremation process.\n  (2) Upon good cause being shown rebutting the presumption of the\nidentity of such remains, the cremation shall not commence until\nreasonable confirmation of the identity of the deceased human being is\nmade. This proof may be in the form of, but not limited to, a signed\naffidavit from a licensed physician, a member of the family of the\ndeceased human being, the authorizing agent or a court order from the\nstate supreme court within the county of the cemetery corporation. Such\nproof shall be provided by the authorizing agent.\n  (3) The crematory shall have a written plan to assure that the\nidentification established by the cremation permit accompanies the\nremains of the deceased human being through the cremation process and\nuntil the identity of the deceased is accurately and legibly inscribed\non the container in which the cremains are placed.\n  (d) Opening of container holding the remains of the deceased human\nbeing. (1) The casket, alternative container, or external wrappings\nholding the remains of the deceased human being shall not be opened\nafter delivery to the crematory unless there exists good cause to\nconfirm the identity of the deceased, or to assure that no material is\nenclosed which might cause injury to employees or damage to crematory\nproperty, or upon reasonable demand by members of the immediate family\nor the authorized agent.\n  (2) In such instances in which the casket, alternative container, or\nwrappings are opened after delivery to the crematory, such action shall\nonly be conducted by the licensed funeral director or registered\nresident delivering the remains of the deceased human being and if\nnecessary, with the assistance of crematory personnel and a record shall\nbe made, which shall include the reason for such action, the signature\nof the person authorizing the opening thereof, and the names of the\nperson opening the container and the witness thereto, which shall be\nretained in the permanent file of the crematory. The opening of the\ncontainer shall be conducted in the presence of the witness and shall\ncomply with all rules and regulations intended to protect the health and\nsafety of crematory personnel.\n  (e) Ceremonial casket cremation disclosure. In those instances in\nwhich the remains of deceased human beings are to be delivered to a\ncrematory in a casket that is not to be cremated with the deceased,\ntimely disclosure thereof must be made by the person making the funeral\narrangements to the crematory that prior to cremation the remains of the\ndeceased human being shall be transferred to an alternative container.\nSuch signed acknowledgement of the authorizing person, that the timely\ndisclosure has been made, shall be retained by the crematory in its\npermanent records.\n  (f) Transferring remains. (1) The remains of a deceased human being\nshall not be removed from the casket, alternative container, or external\nwrappings in which it is delivered to the crematory unless explicit,\nsigned authorization is provided by the person making funeral\narrangements or by a public officer discharging his or her statutory\nduty, which signed authorization shall be retained by the crematory in\nits permanent records.\n  (2) When the remains of a deceased human being are to be transferred\nto an alternative container, the transfer shall be conducted in privacy\nwith dignity and respect and by the licensed funeral director or\nregistered resident who delivered those remains and if necessary, with\nthe assistance of crematory personnel. The transferring operation shall\ncomply with all rules and regulations intended to protect the health and\nsafety of crematory personnel.\n  (g) Commingling human remains. The cremation of remains of more than\none deceased human being in a retort at any one time is unlawful, except\nupon the explicit, signed authorization provided by the persons making\nfuneral arrangements and the signed approval of the crematory, which\nshall be retained by the crematory in its permanent records.\n  (h) Processing of cremains. (1) Upon the completion of the cremation\nof the remains of a deceased human being, the interior of the retort\nshall be thoroughly swept so as to render the retort reasonably free of\nall matter. The contents thereof shall be placed into an individual\ncontainer and not commingled with other cremains. The cremation permit\nshall be attached to the individual container preparatory to final\nprocessing.\n  (2) A magnet and sieve, or other appropriate method of separation, may\nbe used to divide the cremains from unrecognizable incidental or foreign\nmaterial.\n  (3) The incidental and foreign material of the cremation process shall\nbe disposed of in a safe manner in compliance with all sanitary rules\nand regulations as byproducts.\n  (4) The cremains shall be pulverized until no single fragment is\nrecognizable as skeletal tissue.\n  (5) The pulverized cremains shall be transferred to a sealable\ncontainer or containers whose inside dimension shall be of suitable size\nto contain the entire cremains of the person who was cremated.\n  (6) The prescribed sealable container or containers shall be\naccurately and legibly labeled with the identification of the human\nbeing whose cremains are contained therein, in a manner acceptable to\nthe division of cemeteries.\n  (i) Disposition of cremains. The authorizing agent shall be\nresponsible for the final disposition of the cremains. Cremains must be\ndisposed of by placing them in a grave, crypt, or niche, by scattering\nthem in a designated scattering garden or area, or in any manner\nwhatever on the private property of a consenting owner or by delivery to\nthe authorizing agent or a person specifically designated by the\nauthorizing agent. Upon completion of the cremation process, if the\ncemetery corporation has not been instructed to arrange for the\ninterment, entombment, inurnment or scattering of the cremains, the\ncemetery corporation shall deliver the cremains to the individual\nspecified on the cremation authorization form or the funeral firm of\nrecord. The delivery may be made in person or by registered mail. Upon\nreceipt of the cremains, the individual receiving them may transport\nthem in any manner in the state without a permit, and may dispose of\nthem in accordance with this section. After delivery, the cemetery\ncorporation shall be discharged from any legal obligation or liability\nconcerning the cremains. If, after a period of one hundred twenty days\nfrom the date of the cremation, the authorizing agent has not instructed\nthe cemetery corporation to arrange for the final disposition of the\ncremains or claimed the cremains, the cemetery corporation may dispose\nof the cremains in any manner permitted by this section. The cemetery\ncorporation, however, shall keep a permanent record identifying the site\nof final disposition. The authorizing agent shall be responsible for\nreimbursing the cemetery corporation for all reasonable expenses\nincurred in disposing of the cremains. Upon disposing of the cremains,\nthe cemetery corporation shall be discharged from any legal obligation\nor liability concerning the cremains. Except with the express written\npermission of the authorizing agent, no person shall:\n  (1) dispose of cremains in a manner or in a location so that the\ncremains are commingled with those of another person. This prohibition\nshall not apply to the scattering of cremains at sea, by air, or in an\narea located in a cemetery and used exclusively for those purposes; and\n  (2) place cremains of more than one person in the same temporary\ncontainer or urn.\n  (j) Crematory operation certification. Any employee of a crematory\nwhose function is to conduct the daily operations of the cremation\nprocess shall be certified by an organization approved by the division\nof cemeteries. Proof of such certification must be posted in the\ncrematory and available for inspection at any time. Any new employees of\na crematory required to be certified under this section shall be\ncertified within one year of their employment. Any employees of a\ncrematory required to be certified under this section and retained prior\nto the effective date of this paragraph shall be certified within one\nyear of such effective date. Renewal of such certification shall be\ncompleted every five years from the date of certification.\n