BILL NUMBER: S7457A
SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the public health law, in relation to permitting the use of
cremation or natural organic reduction as the method of disposition for
certain decedents
 
PURPOSE:
To facilitate the selection of cremation or natural organic reduction as
a method of disposition by local officials acting as public administra-
tors for individuals who die without any financial resources or survi-
vors.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Paragraph (c) of Subsection (2) of Section 4201 of the
Public Health Law by adding language that would strengthen civil liabil-
ity protections and permit local officials acting in their official
capacity as public administrators in good faith to control the disposi-
tion of remains. This bill would also permit local officials and public
administrators to select cremation or natural organic reduction as a
method of final disposition for individuals who die without any finan-
cial resources, and with reasonable belief that such method is consist-
ent with the religious practices of the decedent, provided that no
survivors have claimed the body within 90 days of the decedent's death,
or such survivors have voluntarily given up their right to control the
decedent's final disposition.
Section 2 provides an immediate effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The State's landmark Final Disposition Law was enacted in 2006-07 to
allow a person to designate someone of their choosing to act as their
legal agent to ensure that their funeral/burial wishes are carried out
after their death. The law also provided a hierarchy in listing which
persons, in descending order of priority, had the right to control the
disposition of a decedent in cases when an agent was not named. As coun-
ties are legally charged with ensuring the dignified final disposition
of individuals who pass away without any financial resources, chief
fiscal officers/public administrators are listed, so they may serve as
the person in control of the final disposition for these individuals.
However, the steady and continued rise in cremation as a chosen form of
final disposition has resulted in heightened concern among these county
officials as to whether current law affords them adequate legal
protection when acting in their official capacity to order or authorize
a cremation, given the irreversibility of cremation as a final disposi-
tion process.
This legislation, if enacted, would provide this needed extra level of
legal protection, and in so doing, give these local officials the neces-
sary degree of comfort and confidence when authorizing cremation or the
new process of natural organic reduction as part of their official
duties. The bill also provides that either of these forms of final
disposition may only be authorized if they are consistent with the reli-
gious practices of the decedent, and 1) no person having priority above
the local official has claimed the decedent 90 days after death, or 2) a
person having priority is known but has given up his or her right to
control the disposition.
Enactment of this bill would not only provide the necessary level of
legal protection to county officials as part of their official duties,
but would also ensure that a person's final disposition is carried
through in a seamless and dignified manner.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Savings to counties in potential legal expenses.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective immediately.

Statutes affected:
S7457: 4201 public health law, 4201(2) public health law
S7457A: 4201 public health law, 4201(2) public health law