* § 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