Bill Text: CA AB764 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Human Remains.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-05-28 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB764 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB764-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 764 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Linder
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to add and repeal Article 9 (commencing with Section
9789.1) to Chapter 19 of Division 3 of the Business and Professions
Code, relating to human remains.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 764, as amended, Linder. Human Remains.
Existing law, the Cemetery Act, provides for the licensure and
regulation of cemeteries, crematories, and their personnel by the
Cemetery and Funeral Bureau within the Department of Consumer
Affairs. Existing law establishes certified uniform program agencies,
which are agencies certified by the Secretary for Environmental
Protection to implement a specified unified program relating to
hazardous waste and materials in accordance with certain
requirements.
This bill would, until January 1, 2020, establish a pilot program
that would authorize the bureau to issue a limited crematory license
to no more than 5 alkaline hydrolysis facilities,
subject to specified requirements. The bill would also set
forth requirements for participation in a pilot program at University
of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine,
Department of Family Medicine.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 9 (commencing with Section 9789.1) is added to
Chapter 19 of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, to
read:
Article 9. Hydrolysis
9789.1. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall apply:
(1) "Hydrolysis facility" means a building or structure containing
one or more chambers for the reduction of bodies of deceased persons
by alkaline hydrolysis.
(2) "Hydrolysis chamber" means the enclosed space within which the
hydrolysis of human remains is performed and any other attached,
nonenclosed, mechanical components that are necessary for the safe
and proper functioning of the equipment. Allowable hydrolysis
chambers for the disposition of human remains shall meet or exceed
State Department of Public Health and federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention requirements for complete destruction of human
pathogens.
(3) "Hydrolysis container" means a hydrolyzable closed container
resistant to leakage of bodily fluids into which the body of a
deceased person is placed prior to insertion in a hydrolysis chamber
for alkaline hydrolysis.
(4) "Hydrolyzed remains" means bone fragments of a human body that
are left after hydrolysis in a hydrolysis facility. "Hydrolyzed
remains" does not include foreign materials, pacemakers, or
prostheses.
(5) "Hydrolyzed remains container" means a receptacle in which
hydrolyzed remains are placed after hydrolysis.
(6) "Hydrolysis" means the process by which the following three
steps are taken:
(A) The reduction of the body of a deceased person to its
essential chemical components by alkaline hydrolysis. Alkaline
hydrolysis is a chemical process using heat or heat and applied
pressure, water, and potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide to
dissolve human tissue within a hydrolysis container.
(B) Wherever possible, the least amount of potassium hydroxide
that is still effective for complete dissolution of the remains shall
be used within the hydrolysis container, to minimize the downstream
environmental impact of the effluent and to maximize worker safety.
(C) The processing of the remains after removal from the
hydrolysis chamber pursuant to Section 7010.3 of the Health and
Safety Code.
9789.1. 9789.2. (a) Nothing in this
chapter, Chapter 12, or any other law, shall be construed to
prohibit a hydrolysis facility from engaging in the practice of
alkaline hydrolysis of human remains when authorized as part of the
pilot program authorized by this section.
(b) The bureau is authorized to issue a limited crematory license
to an alkaline a hydrolysis facility
subject to the following:
(1) The bureau may issue limited crematory licenses to no more
than five alkaline hydrolysis facilities.
(2) Each alkaline hydrolysis facility shall
meet the following requirements:
(A) The alkaline hydrolysis facility shall be
managed by a licensed crematory manager, who has been certified as
having received training by the hydrolysis manufacturer, as approved
by the bureau.
(B) The alkaline hydrolysis facility shall
comply with local all applicable water
treatment and wastewater control laws.
(C) The alkaline hydrolysis facility shall
present to the bureau any locally required permits for business
operations and appropriate state tax documentation.
(c) A licensed alkaline hydrolysis facility
shall submit to annual inspections by the bureau and any certified
uniform program agency. The facility may be additionally inspected at
any time by the bureau.
(d) Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 9740) and Article 8
(commencing with Section 9780) shall apply to the alkaline
hydrolysis of human remains authorized through the pilot
program by this section .
97893. The requirements of Division 7 (commencing with Section
7000) of the Health and Safety Code apply to this article as follows:
(1) The requirements related to the operation of crematories apply
to a hydrolysis facility authorized by this article.
(2) The requirements related to cremated remains shall apply to
hydrolyzed remains authorized by this article.
9789.2. 9789.4. This article shall
remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.
