BILL NUMBER: S5333

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the general business law, in relation
to the right to contract for the burial of cremains in pet cemeteries
and requiring notice related thereto

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To provide notice to individuals who seek to bury a pet owner's cremains
with the pet owner's pet(s) in a pet cemetery.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends the General Business Law by adding a new
section 750-vv to provide that pet cemetery owners and operators who
allow for the burial of cremains of pet owners with their pets pursuant
to a written contract may charge a reasonable fee for such burial and
must provide notice as described in this section to anyone who seeks to
bury a pet owner's cremains with the pet owner's pet before any contract
is signed or consideration is paid for such burial.
              

The notice shall be in fourteen bold type, shall be contained in a docu-
ment separate from all other forms provided to the customer or the
person making the arrangements for burial or disposal and shall also be
included in any contract arranging for burial or disposal of remains in
a pet cemetery. Such notice shall state the following: "This property is
not a cemetery for human cremains.

Cremains disposed of on this property will not be covered by the
protections and legal rights granted by New York State Law to cremains
disposed of in a cemetery.

The family and descendants of the deceased will not be covered by the
protections and legal rights granted by New York State Law to the family
and descendants of deceased persons whose cremains are disposed of in a
cemetery such as mandatory records of burials, rights of memorialization
and restrictions on removal.

There is no assurance under New York State Law that this property will
be maintained in its current condition and for its current purpose.
  There is no assurance under New York State Law that this property will
not  be  sold  or  transferred  to another owner, or that access to this
property will remain open to you, the family or the descendants  of  the
deceased.

There  is no assurance under New York State Law that any burial plots or
memorials for cremains on this property will be maintained or  preserved
for any period of time.

There  is  no  assurance  under  New  York  State  Law that any cremains
disposed of on this property will remain for any period of time  in  the
location they were disposed, or on this property at all"

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:


Pet  cemeteries  have  existed  for  nearly 100 years. Article 35 of the
General Business Law governs the operation of  pet  cemeteries  and  pet
crematoriums.

On  occasion,  pet owners have asked that their cremated ashes be buried
in burial plots in pet cemeteries along with the remains of their  pets.
The  General  Business Law does not prohibit pet cemeteries from burying
human ashes along with the remains of pets.

Article 15 of the Not-For-Profit Corporation Law governs  the  operation
of  not-for-profit  cemetery  corporations  and establishes the cemetery
board to regulate them. This law affords certain  protections  to  human
remains  and  cremains  buried  in  cemetery  corporations.  These  same
protections are not provided under the General Business Law to  cremains
buried in pet cemeteries and the cemetery board has no jurisdiction over
them.

This  legislation  will ensure that anyone seeking to have a pet owner's
cremains buried in a pet cemetery with the pet owner's  pet  understands
their  rights  before  a contract is signed or consideration is paid and
that such cremains do not have the same rights  as  cremains  buried  in
not-for-profit cemeteries.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017-18: A614A referred to corporations, authorities and commissions;
2015-16: A413 referred to consumer affairs and protection;
2014: A1593A passed assembly;
2012: A8651 referred to consumer affairs and protection

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect ninety days after enactment.