Bill Text: NY A10020 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Eliminates restrictions on the removal of human remains from the county in which the death occurred.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-17 - substituted by s7307a [A10020 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-A10020-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                        10020--A
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                       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:
     1    Section  1.  Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 4144 of the public health
     2  law, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 617 of the laws of 1980,  para-
     3  graph  (a)  of  subdivision  2  as amended by chapter 219 of the laws of
     4  1972, paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter  352  of  the
     5  laws  of  2013  and paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 as amended by chapter
     6  267 of the laws of 1967, are amended to read as follows:
     7    1. The body of any person whose death occurs in this state,  or  which
     8  shall  be  found dead herein shall not be interred, deposited in a vault
     9  or tomb, cremated or otherwise disposed of, or removed from [the  county
    10  in  which  the  death  occurred or the body was found] this state, or be
    11  temporarily held pending further disposition more than seventy-two hours
    12  after death, unless a permit for burial, removal, or  other  disposition
    13  thereof  shall  have  been  properly  issued  by  the registrar of vital
    14  statistics of the registration district in which the death  occurred  or
    15  the  body was found[, except that such a body may be removed to an adja-
    16  cent county without first obtaining a permit therefor]; provided, howev-
    17  er, that a licensed funeral director may  apply  for  and  receive  such
    18  permit  on  behalf  of  any  person or institution authorized by article
    19  forty-two or forty-three of this chapter to receive  unclaimed  cadavers
    20  or anatomical gifts.
    21    2.  (a)  [Except  as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) hereof, no] No
    22  burial or removal permit shall be issued by any registrar until, wherev-
    23  er practicable, a complete and satisfactory  certificate  of  death  has
    24  been filed with him as provided in this article.
    25    (b)  [Verbal permission to remove a body of a deceased person from the
    26  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

     1  county  within  the state of New York, as provided in subdivision one of
     2  this section, shall be issued by the said registrar of vital statistics,
     3  upon request by telephone of a licensed funeral director  or  undertaker
     4  who  holds  a  certificate of death signed by the attending physician or
     5  nurse practitioner, or for deaths occurring on or after the  implementa-
     6  tion  date  under  section  forty-one hundred forty-eight of this title,
     7  such certificate of death signed by the  attending  physician  or  nurse
     8  practitioner  is  available  electronically  in  accordance with section
     9  forty-one hundred forty-eight of this  title,  showing  that  the  death
    10  resulted  from  natural  causes  and  was  not  a  result of accidental,
    11  suicidal, homicidal or other external causes.
    12    (c) If it is not possible for the funeral director  or  undertaker  to
    13  communicate with the registrar by telephone, verbal permission to remove
    14  a  body  of  a  deceased  person  under  the  same  conditions  as those
    15  prescribed for the registrar may be issued by the commissioner or person
    16  authorized by him.
    17    (d)] The funeral director or undertaker who  shall  make  any  removal
    18  before a permit is issued by the registrar, shall return the body to the
    19  registration  district  where  death  occurred,  whenever  the  coroner,
    20  medical examiner, or district attorney shall request such return of  the
    21  body for investigation or post-mortem examination.
    22    (c)  Except  as  specifically  provided  in this section, the existing
    23  general duties of, and remuneration received  by,  local  registrars  in
    24  accepting  and  filing  certificates  of  death  and  issuing burial and
    25  removal permits pursuant to any statute or  regulation  shall  be  main-
    26  tained, and not altered or abridged in any way by this section.
    27    §  2.  Subdivision  7  of  section  4144  of  the public health law is
    28  REPEALED.
    29    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.