Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 37, September 13, 2024
Section 6-2-2 - DefinitionsFor the purposes of this rule, the following terms have the following meaning unless the context in which they are used requires a different meaning.
2.1. "Advertise" and "advertising" means the use of radio, television, internet, including social media and web pages, billboards, stationery, contracts, price lists, calendars, fans and novelty advertising, or any other advertising method or medium.2.2. "Agent" means a person who acts as a representative of the crematory.2.3. "Alkaline Hydrolysis" means the reduction of a dead human body to essential elements through a water-based dissolution process using alkaline chemicals, heat, agitation and pressure to accelerate natural decomposition; the process of hydrolyzed remains after removal from the alkaline hydrolysis vessel; placement of the processed remains in a hydrolyzed remains container; and release the hydrolyzed remains to an appropriate party. Alkaline Hydrolysis is a form of cremation.2.4. "Alkaline Hydrolysis Operator" means an individual certified by the Board to operate crematory equipment.2.5. "Arrangement conference" means the time spent with the next-of-kin, or other duly or legally authorized person or representative, planning and making financial arrangements for the cremation of a dead human body.2.6. "authorized representative" means a person legally authorized or entitled to order the cremation of the deceased.2.7. "Board" means the West Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners.2.8. "Cash advance item" means an item of service or merchandise described to a purchaser as a "cash advance item," "accommodation," "cash disbursement," or similar term. It also means an item obtained from a third party and paid for by the crematory on the purchaser's behalf, including but not limited to cemetery services, obituary notices, and death certificates.2.9. "Casket" means a rigid container which is designed for the encasement of human remains and which is usually constructed of wood, metal, fiberglass, plastic or other material, and ornamented and lined with fabric.2.10. "Cremated remains" means all human remains recovered after the completion of the cremation process and may include residue from the cremation container itself and other incinerated materials, as well as human remains recovered after the completion of the hydrolysis process.2.11. "Cremation" means any mechanical hydrolyzation or thermal process whereby a dead human body is reduced to cremated remains and bone fragments. Cremation also includes any other mechanical hydrolyzed or thermal process whereby human remains are pulverized, burned, recremated, or otherwise further reduced in size or quantity.2.12. "Thermal Cremation chamber" or "Hydrolyzation Chamber" means the enclosed space of a cremation unit in which the initial reduction of a dead human body takes place.2.13. "Thermal Cremation container" or "alternative contain6r"m6ans an unfinished wood box or other non-metal receptacle or enclosure which is designed for the encasement of a dead human body for purposes of cremation and which is made of fiberboard, pressed wood, composition material with or without an outside covering, or like materials and which is combustible and resistant to leakage of bodily fluids. If the authorized representative desires, a traditional wood-base casket may serve as a cremation container.2.14. "Thermal Cremation unit" means professionally manufactured equipment designed specifically for the initial reduction of a dead human body to cremated remains and bone fragments by intense heat and flame, containing one or more cremation chambers, and which meets all state and federal safety requirements.2.15. "Crematory" means a place of business maintained and operated for the sole purpose of reducing dead human bodies to cremated remains and bone fragments by cremation.2.16. "Crematory operator" means a person certified by the board to operate a crematory.2.17. "Dead human body" means the lifeless body of a human being for which a death certificate must be issued or individual body parts for which a medical institution or the medical examiner has given permission to cremate.2.18. "Direct supervision" means the physical presence of a certified crematory operator in charge for specific activities requiring more than general supervision.2.19. "Fees" means any monies owed to the Board for services provided as prescribed in the Board's 6 CSR 7 Rule2.20. "Funeral goods" means the goods or merchandise which are sold or offered for sale directly to the public for use in connection with funeral services or final disposition, including but not limited to caskets, outer burial containers, alternative containers, cremation containers, and cremated remains containers. It shall not include cemetery lots, markers, memorials, permanently constructed vaults, concrete lawn crypts, or monuments.2.21. "General supervision" means the general oversight or overall responsibility for an activity by a certified crematory operator in charge.2.22. "Hydrolysis Chamber", hydrolysis unit" or "hydrolysis vessel" means the enclosed space within which the hydrolysis process occurs. Hydrolysis chambers shall be used exclusively for the cremation of human remains.2.23. "Mechanical processor" means professionally manufactured equipment designed specifically for the secondary reduction of a dead human body's cremated remains and bone fragments into smaller fragments by crushing, pulverizing or grinding, and which meets all state and federal safety requirements.2.24. Non-combustible materials" means metals or other materials which do not incinerate in a cremation chamber or can not be processed in a mechanical processor, such as casket handles, screws, nails, wires, medical devices, artificial limbs and joints, or other medical implants.2.25. "Operator-in-Charge" means an individual certified by the Board who is in charge of the day to day operations of a crematory or alkaline hydrolysis facility.2.26. "Person" means an individual, partnership, association, corporation or other organization.2.27. "Registrant" means a person who holds a crematory operator certificate or an alkaline hydrolysis operator certificate, pursuant to W. Va. Code § 30-6-11 and this rule.2.28. "Cremated Remains" refers to the human body after being cremated.