§ 3429. Continuing education for funeral directors. 1. Definitions. As
used in this section:

(a) "Biennium" means any two-year period for registration of
individuals licensed to practice funeral directing or embalming in this
state pursuant to section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of
this title;

(b) "Continuing education" means a course of instruction in a field of
funeral directing, within the subjects listed in subdivision five of
this section, taught by a provider registered with the department under
subdivision four of this section;

(c) "Contact hour" means a period of between fifty and sixty minutes,
continuously measured;

(d) "Provider" means a national, state or local trade association of
funeral directors, a school for funeral directors approved under section
three thousand four hundred twenty-five of this title or, with prior or
provisional approval of course content by the department under
subdivision four of this section, any other person or organization
desiring to offer continuing education;

(e) "Trade association" means an organization, whether incorporated or
not, whose primary class of members consists of ten or more firms under
separate ownerships or twenty individuals in different employment, all
registered under section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of
this title in an aspect of funeral service, which has been organized and
maintained for at least two years prior to offering continuing education
under this section for the collective benefit of its members.

2. Requirement. (a) Every person who renews a certificate of
registration under section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of
this title shall file with the department, along with his or her
biennial application for renewal, a certification attesting to the
course or programs of instruction taken and successfully completed by
such person and which clearly demonstrates that the person has completed
the minimum number of hours of continuing education within the current
biennium as set forth in subdivision three of this section.

(b) The department shall provide a certification form which shall
require the following information:

(i) Applicant's full name and registration number;

(ii) Applicant's statement that he or she attended a specified number
of hours of continuing education within the current biennium, consisting
of courses identified by sponsor, date, location, and length of time in
hours; and

(iii) Applicant's signature and date.

(c) This subdivision shall not apply to a funeral director, undertaker
or embalmer who is an inactive registrant pursuant to subdivision nine
of section three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of this title.

3. Minimum hours. The minimum hours of continuing education which an
individual renewing registration must complete are:

(a) to renew for the first biennium commencing on June thirtieth, two
thousand two, six hours within the current biennium concluding on such
date.

(b) to renew for all subsequent biennia, twelve hours within each
biennium, including at least two hours relating to applicable New York
state laws and regulations affecting funeral directing, embalming and
preneed services, which may be provided by the department or a provider
registered pursuant to the provisions of subdivision four of this
section.

4. Provider registration; course content approval. (a) Any person who
is a provider and who desires to offer continuing education shall first
register with the department and pay a registration fee of one hundred
fifty dollars for the first biennium. A provider once registered may
renew the registration for subsequent biennia for a fee of seventy-five
dollars per biennium. The provider shall submit with its registration
fee an affidavit which includes the following information and
statements:

(i) Provider's name, address, telephone number, and, when known, names
of individual instructors;

(ii) Provider's agreement to accept periodic monitoring of its courses
by the department;

(iii) Provider's certification that the contents of each course are
within the scope of subdivision five of this section;

(iv) Provider's commitment to verify attendance at each course and to
maintain attendance records for department inspection for five years;

(v) Provider's commitment to establish a mechanism whereby licensees
may evaluate the quality and content of each course taken as well as the
provider's overall program when requested to do so by the department,
and to maintain records of such evaluations for department inspection
for five years;

(vi) Provider's agreement to submit to the department such evidence as
is necessary to establish compliance with this section;

(vii) Provider's acknowledgment that disapproval by the department of
a particular course or revocation of the provider's registration may
result in nonrecognition of hours of continuing education from that
provider; and

(viii) Provider's signature and date and verification by a notary
public.

(b) A registered provider which is required to obtain prior approval
of courses shall submit to the department a written description of each
course for which approval is requested, at least sixty days prior to the
first date the course is to be offered. If the department does not
disapprove the proposed course within ninety days of its receipt of the
written description and request for approval, the course shall be
considered approved provisionally for six months. Following the six
months of provisional approval, the department may make a final
determination disapproving the course. Notwithstanding such
determination, however, any individuals licensed pursuant to section
three thousand four hundred twenty-eight of this title shall receive
full continuing education credit for any course taken during the period
of provisional approval to fulfill the requirements of this section.

(c) Any provider registered to offer continuing education under this
section shall require each person taking instruction to display or
provide, prior to admission or before the initiation of any such
instruction, personal photo identification in the form of an automobile
driver's license, passport or any other similar form of photo
identification issued by a governmental entity, or a trade association
as defined in this section. The provider may allow the use of a
photocopy of such identification for computer-based or distance learning
instruction.

(d) The department may impose a fine of no less than the biennial
registration fee upon a provider who violates the provisions of this
section. For a second violation, the department may impose an additional
fine of up to five hundred dollars and suspend the registration for the
balance of the biennium. Nothing herein shall prevent the attorney
general from bringing a civil action against any provider offering
continuing education courses without the prior or provisional approval
of the department.

(e) Registered provider status may be revoked by the department if the
reporting requirements contained in this section are not met or, if upon
review of the provider's performance, the department determines that the
content of the course materials, the quality of the continuing education
activities or the provider's performance does not meet the requirements
set forth herein. In such event, the department shall send the provider
by ordinary mail a notice of revocation. The revocation shall take
effect no less than sixty days from the date such mailed revocation is
postmarked. The provider may request a review of such revocation, and
the department shall determine the request within thirty days. The
decision of the department shall be final after such review.

(f) Section twelve of this chapter shall not apply to this section;
provided, however, that any action by the department in suspending or
revoking a provider registration in accordance with this subdivision
shall be reviewable by the supreme court of the state of New York
pursuant to the provisions of article seventy-eight of the civil
practice law and rules.

5. Subjects of continuing education. The subjects of continuing
education may be one or more of the following: aftercare, business
administration, religion, natural sciences, management services, data
processing, organ procurement, preneed services, jurisprudence (federal,
state, and local), restorative arts and embalming, funeral service
counseling, funeral customs, sanitation and infection control, and
hospice and similar outreach programs.

6. Credit for preparation. A licensed funeral director may earn up to
two hours of continuing education credit for preparing an hour of
continuing education that he or she then teaches, and may earn the hour
solely for teaching that material the first time. No one may earn more
than six hours per biennium for preparation and teaching.

7. Classroom time; minimum percentage. A funeral director shall take
at least fifty percent of his continuing education requirement each
biennium in the form of receiving live classroom instruction. The
remainder may be in other forms such as videotape, audiotape,
teleconference, satellite seminars, internet coursework, credits for
preparation, or correspondence coursework.

8. Licensees in other states. A funeral director licensed as such by
the state of New York who is maintaining his or her registration in this
state while residing in another state is subject to the requirements of
this section. The department may grant a non-resident licensee credit
for continuing education as required by the state in which such licensee
resides, provided the department deems them equivalent to New York
continuing education requirements as set forth herein.

9. Late filing; fines; grace period. (a) The department shall impose a
fine equal to the biennial registration fee upon a registrant who fails
to file the certification of continuing education within the time
prescribed under subdivision two of this section, for the first such
late filing. The department shall also allow such a registrant a grace
period of one hundred twenty days into the biennium to comply with this
section and to file the certification. After one hundred twenty days,
the department shall suspend the registration for the balance of the
biennium.

(b) A registrant who violates the filing requirements and deadlines of
this section a second time shall, upon that and any subsequent
violations, be subject to an additional fine of no more than five
hundred dollars and suspension as the department may impose.

(c) A person who holds an inactive certificate of registration who
wishes to reinstate an active registration shall complete twelve hours
of continuing education prior to obtaining such active registration.

(d) A person whose registration has been suspended by the department
for violating the filing requirements contained in this subdivision and
who wishes to gain reinstatement of such registration shall complete
twelve hours of continuing education and pay a reinstatement fee of two
hundred fifty dollars to the department prior to obtaining reinstatement
of such registration.

(e) With respect to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision, the
department shall send the registrant by ordinary mail a notice of
suspension. The suspension shall take effect no less than sixty days
from the date such mailed suspension is postmarked.

10. Funeral directors shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing
education requirements prescribed herein for the biennium during which
they are first licensed.

11. Enforcement. (a) The department may not renew the registration of
a licensed funeral director who has not complied with this section.

(b) The department may audit at random the certifications of licensees
and the affidavits of providers, and may suspend or revoke the
registration and/or license of a person who has knowingly made a false
statement under oath.