2023 New York Laws › NPC - Not-For-Profit Corporation › Article 15 - Public Cemetery Corporations › 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