Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
The Family and Private Burial Grounds Preservation Act.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the preservation of family or private burial grounds, supplementing Title 40 of the Revised Statutes, and amending P.L.2003, c.261.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) Sections 1 through 14 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be known and may be cited as the Family and Private Burial Grounds Preservation Act.
2. (New section) As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
Burial objects means any items or artifacts directly associated with human burials, which items or artifacts were intentionally deposited in an interment space as a part of a mortuary ritual at the time of interment.
Cemetery means the same as that term is defined in section 2 of the New Jersey Cemetery Act, 2003, P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-2).
Cemetery company means a nonprofit corporation, a for-profit corporation, partnership, association, or other private entity, or any other individual or entity that directly or indirectly owns, manages, operates or controls a cemetery, and which corporation, partnership, association, entity, or individual has been authorized to manage or operate the cemetery pursuant to a certificate of authority issued by the New Jersey Cemetery Board pursuant to the New Jersey Cemetery Act, 2003, P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-1 et seq.).
Department means the Department of Environmental Protection.
Relative means a family member, blood or marriage relation, descendant, or individual in the line of ancestry of a person, and includes the persons parents, children, siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.
Disturb or disturbance means any activity that significantly harms the character, condition, or physical integrity of a family or private burial ground.
Economic benefit means: (a)
savings gained, and that may be realized, from avoided burial ground
maintenance costs; (b) investment returns earned, and that may be earned, on
the amount of avoided burial ground maintenance costs; (c) investment and
resale value gained, and that may be realized, from an increase in the
usability of land on which the burial ground is located, or from
an improvement of the aesthetics thereof; and (d) any other financial benefit gained, and that may be realized, from a violation of section 4 or 5 of P.L. , c. (C. or C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
Family or private burial ground or burial ground means a cemetery into which the human skeletal remains of two or more persons have been intentionally deposited, and the location of which has been clearly identified through the intentional placement of stone tablets, markers, or tombstones, fencing, memorial stones or statues, or through some other obvious means, and which cemetery (1) is not owned or operated by a government entity, by a religious corporation or organization, or by a cemetery company that has received authorization to operate pursuant to the provisions of the New Jersey Cemetery Act, 2003, P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-1 et seq.), and (2) is located on a parcel of land that has never been used for the purpose of public burials. Family or private burial ground or burial ground shall not include a crematory, as defined in section 2 of P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-2).
Human skeletal remains or remains means a body, or part of a body, of a deceased human being, or the recoverable human bone fragments resulting from the process of cremation.
Interment space means a grave, or a tomb, crypt, or some other similarly-purposed structure, whether originally situated below, on, or above the surface of the ground, into which the human skeletal remains of a deceased person have been intentionally deposited as a part of death rites, rituals, or ceremonies.
Maintenance and preservation means all of the activities undertaken to uphold or sustain the character, condition, and physical integrity of a family or private burial ground, and includes the ordinary care and upkeep of the burial ground.
Permanent disinterment means the dismantling of a family or private burial ground and the permanent removal therefrom of all human skeletal remains and burial objects, memorial structures and markers, crypts or other moveable interment spaces contained therein, and fences, railings, or other structures bounding the same, which permanent removal has been authorized by the department pursuant to section 5 or 8 of P.L. , c. (C. or C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
3. (New section) The Department of Environmental Protection shall administer the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) and shall have general supervision and regulatory authority, and jurisdiction, over all family or private burial grounds in the State.
a. The department shall have the power to:
(1) apply for, accept, and receive grant or loan money from any federal, State, or other public or private source, and solicit and accept gifts, legacies, bequests, and endowments for, or in aid of, the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);
(2) enter into any agreement or contract, execute any instrument, and perform any act necessary, convenient, or desirable to carry out any power expressly given in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);
(3) authorize and effectuate the permanent disinterment of human skeletal remains or burial objects interred in a burial ground, pursuant to the provisions of section 5 or 8 of P.L. , c. (C. or C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);
(4) request assistance from, and avail itself of the services of, the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, commission, or agency as may be necessary to carry out any power expressly given P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);
(5) institute in an action in the Superior Court for injunctive or other relief, as is necessary to enforce P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) or the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto; and
(6) in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt, amend, and repeal rules and regulations and issue orders as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
b. The department shall have the duty to:
(1) formulate policies for the maintenance and preservation of family or private burial grounds in the State;
(2) establish, maintain, and regularly update a written record and map of all family or private burial grounds in the State, and make the same information available for review by the public;
(3) prepare and distribute informational materials to advise the public with respect to New Jerseys family or private buri