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.