S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                10020--A

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               May 5, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A. SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the
  Committee on Health -- committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
  reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to burial and removal
  permits;  and  to  repeal  subdivision  7  of section 4144 of such law
  relating thereto

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 4144 of the public health
law, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 617 of the laws of 1980,  para-
graph  (a)  of  subdivision  2  as amended by chapter 219 of the laws of
1972, paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter  352  of  the
laws  of  2013  and paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter
267 of the laws of 1967, are amended to read as follows:
  1. The body of any person whose death occurs in this state,  or  which
shall  be  found dead herein shall not be interred, deposited in a vault
or tomb, cremated or otherwise disposed of, or removed from [the  county
in  which  the  death  occurred or the body was found] THIS STATE, or be
temporarily held pending further disposition more than seventy-two hours
after death, unless a permit for burial, removal, or  other  disposition
thereof  shall  have  been  properly  issued  by  the registrar of vital
statistics of the registration district in which the death  occurred  or
the  body was found[, except that such a body may be removed to an adja-
cent county without first obtaining a permit therefor]; provided, howev-
er, that a licensed funeral director may  apply  for  and  receive  such
permit  on  behalf  of  any  person or institution authorized by article
forty-two or forty-three of this chapter to receive  unclaimed  cadavers
or anatomical gifts.
  2.  (a)  [Except  as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) hereof, no] NO
burial or removal permit shall be issued by any registrar until, wherev-
er practicable, a complete and satisfactory  certificate  of  death  has
been filed with him as provided in this article.
  (b)  [Verbal permission to remove a body of a deceased person from the
county in which death occurred or the body was found to  a  non-adjacent

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD15014-04-6

A. 10020--A                         2

county  within  the state of New York, as provided in subdivision one of
this section, shall be issued by the said registrar of vital statistics,
upon request by telephone of a licensed funeral director  or  undertaker
who  holds  a  certificate of death signed by the attending physician or
nurse practitioner, or for deaths occurring on or after the  implementa-
tion  date  under  section  forty-one hundred forty-eight of this title,
such certificate of death signed by the  attending  physician  or  nurse
practitioner  is  available  electronically  in  accordance with section
forty-one hundred forty-eight of this  title,  showing  that  the  death
resulted  from  natural  causes  and  was  not  a  result of accidental,
suicidal, homicidal or other external causes.
  (c) If it is not possible for the funeral director  or  undertaker  to
communicate with the registrar by telephone, verbal permission to remove
a  body  of  a  deceased  person  under  the  same  conditions  as those
prescribed for the registrar may be issued by the commissioner or person
authorized by him.
  (d)] The funeral director or undertaker who  shall  make  any  removal
before a permit is issued by the registrar, shall return the body to the
registration  district  where  death  occurred,  whenever  the  coroner,
medical examiner, or district attorney shall request such return of  the
body for investigation or post-mortem examination.
  (C)  EXCEPT  AS  SPECIFICALLY  PROVIDED  IN THIS SECTION, THE EXISTING
GENERAL DUTIES OF, AND REMUNERATION RECEIVED  BY,  LOCAL  REGISTRARS  IN
ACCEPTING  AND  FILING  CERTIFICATES  OF  DEATH  AND  ISSUING BURIAL AND
REMOVAL PERMITS PURSUANT TO ANY STATUTE OR  REGULATION  SHALL  BE  MAIN-
TAINED, AND NOT ALTERED OR ABRIDGED IN ANY WAY BY THIS SECTION.
  S  2.  Subdivision  7  of  section  4144  of  the public health law is
REPEALED.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.