N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 19 § 204.9

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 53, December 31, 2024

Section 204.9 - Natural organic reduction log, authorization form, facility records

(a)Natural organic reduction log. Every natural organic reduction facility shall maintain a natural organic reduction log which shall set forth for each delivery of human remains received by the natural organic reduction facility:

(1) the name of the deceased;

(2) the place of death and the estimated combined weight of the remains and the container;

(3) the date and time the remains arrived at the natural organic reduction facility;

(4) the natural organic reduction identification number;

(5) the name of the funeral director, undertaker or registered resident delivering the human remains and the name and address of the funeral entity which the funeral director, undertaker or registered resident represents;

(6) the date and time the remains were:

(i) placed in the vessel for natural organic reduction;

(ii) checked for temperature in accordance with section 204.6(c)(2) of this Part, including the temperature reading, and any other data necessary for the natural organic reduction process used by the natural organic reduction facility;

(iii) tested for pathogens and pollutants;

(iv) removed from the vessel;

(v) processed to pulverize any remaining skeletal remains; and

(vi) removed from the facility for scattering, burial, entombment or inurnment in a cemetery corporation as required under section 1518(i) of the N-PCL.

(7) if the natural organic reduction process commenced more than 48 hours from the time the natural organic reduction facility accepted delivery of the remains, a detailed explanation for the delay;

(8) the vessel number in which the remains were naturally organically reduced;

(9) the type of container in which the remains were received and in which the remains were placed into the vessel for natural organic reduction. If the remains were received in a non-reduced container, the time of disclosure made by the person in charge of disposition, the name of the person authorizing the opening of the non-reduced container, the name of licensed funeral director or registered resident who transferred the remains to a natural organic reduction container, and name of the witness;

(10) the name and contact information of the individual who received the naturally organically reduced remains from the facility; and

(11) the name and address of the cemetery corporation where the naturally organically reduced remains shall be scattered, buried, entombed or inurned.

(b) The natural organic reduction log shall be retained in the permanent file of the natural organic reduction facility.

(c)Natural organic reduction permit and natural organic reduction authorization form. No natural organic reduction facility shall naturally organically reduce the remains of any deceased human being without first receiving the natural organic reduction permit, as required pursuant to section 4145 of the Public Health Law, and the natural organic reduction authorization form, as required by section 1518(c)(1) of the N-PCL. The natural organic reduction authorization form shall satisfy the requirements of subdivision (d) of this section. In addition, all natural organic reduction facilities situated outside the City of New York must comply with section 4145(2)(b) of the Public Health Law pertaining to the receipt for the deceased human being.

(d) Each natural organic reduction facility shall develop a natural organic reduction authorization form which, when properly filled in and signed, will be accepted by such natural organic reduction facility. Such form shall be substantially similar to the template as established by the division; shall be not more than three pages, single sided, in length, each such page to be not larger than 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches; shall be printed in font not less than 6 points; and shall contain the following information (or, where applicable, shall contain spaces where the following information can be inserted by the person completing the form):

(1) the name and address of the natural organic reduction facility;

(2) a clear, concise description of the natural organic reduction process to be used by the natural organic reduction facility (including but not limited to identification of the amendments or bulking agents used in the vessel in natural organic reduction), a statement that natural organic reduction is an irreversible and final process, a statement that the process of natural organic reduction may take between 30 and 60 days, a statement that the resulting product is, on average, between one-half and one cubic yard of compost for a deceased adult, a statement that skeletal remains must be pulverized until no single fragment is recognizable as skeletal tissue as part of the natural organic reduction process, and a statement that natural organic reduction is not green burial of intact human remains;

(3) the name of the deceased as it appears on the natural organic reduction permit, the date and place of death;

(4) the last address, age, sex and approximate weight of the deceased, and type of container in which the remains of the deceased were delivered;

(5) the name of the funeral director and funeral entity that provided the natural organic reduction authorization to the natural organic reduction facility, and the funeral director's registration number;

(6) the name of the person in control of disposition of the remains of the deceased who signed the natural organic reduction authorization form, and the relationship between said person and the deceased;

(7) a statement attesting that the person in control of disposition who signed the natural organic reduction authorization form has the right to authorize the natural organic reduction of the remains of the deceased pursuant to section 4201 of the Public Health Law;

(8) authorization for the natural organic reduction facility to naturally organically reduce the remains of the deceased;

(9) a statement that the cause of death, including the immediate cause or as a consequence of, as recorded on the decedent's death certificate, was not active tuberculosis, Ebola, or a prion disease such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the decedent did not perish in a radiological incident, the body of the deceased does not contain a battery, battery pack, power cell, radioactive implant, or radioactive device, and that any such materials were removed prior to the execution of the natural organic reduction authorization form;

(10) the name of the person authorized to retrieve the naturally organically reduced remains and deliver them to the cemetery corporation for scattering, burial, entombment or inurnment;

(11) the name of the cemetery corporation authorized to receive the naturally organically reduced remains from the natural organic reduction facility for scattering, burial, entombment or inurnment;

(12) the signature of the person in control of disposition attesting to the accuracy and completeness of the information and representations contained in the natural organic reduction authorization form and attesting to the authorization of and grant of permission for the natural organic reduction of the deceased; and

(13) the signature of the licensed, registered funeral director who obtained the natural organic reduction authorization as a witness to the execution of the natural organic reduction authorization form.

(e) The completed natural organic reduction authorization form shall be retained in the permanent file of the natural organic reduction facility. Upon receipt of the natural organic reduction authorization form the natural organic reduction facility shall promptly send or transmit copies to the cemetery corporation authorized to receive the naturally organically reduced remains from the natural organic reduction facility, if it is a different cemetery corporation than the natural organic reduction facility, and to the division at its principal office.

(f) Upon receipt of the naturally organically reduced remains for scattering, burial, entombment or inurnment, the cemetery corporation, if it is a different cemetery corporation than the natural organic reduction facility, shall provide a receipt to the natural organic reduction facility. The receipt shall include the name of the deceased, the date the naturally organically reduced remains were received, and the anticipated date of scattering, burial, entombment or inurnment. The receipt shall be retained in the permanent file of the natural organic reduction facility.

(g) All natural organic reduction facility records, including but not limited to records required by any federal, state or local government law or agency, as well as price lists, authorizations, pathogen reduction testing records, vector attraction reduction testing records, certified laboratory testing results, rules and regulations and other documents related to the practice of natural organic reduction, shall be open and available for inspection and copying during regular business hours by the division or its authorized representatives, in the discharge of their official duties.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 19 § 204.9

Adopted New York State Register August 7, 2024/Volume XLVI, Issue 32, eff. 8/7/2024