Bill Text: NY S07307 | 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 (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-09-29 - SIGNED CHAP.378 [S07307 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-S07307-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         7307--A
                    IN SENATE
                                     April 13, 2016
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  YOUNG  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed  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.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15014-05-6
        S. 7307--A                          2
     1    (b)  [Verbal permission to remove a body of a deceased person from the
     2  county in which death occurred or the body was found to  a  non-adjacent
     3  county  within  the state of New York, as provided in subdivision one of
     4  this section, shall be issued by the said registrar of vital statistics,
     5  upon  request  by telephone of a licensed funeral director or undertaker
     6  who holds a certificate of death signed by the  attending  physician  or
     7  nurse  practitioner, or for deaths occurring on or after the implementa-
     8  tion date under section forty-one hundred  forty-eight  of  this  title,
     9  such  certificate  of  death  signed by the attending physician or nurse
    10  practitioner is available  electronically  in  accordance  with  section
    11  forty-one  hundred  forty-eight  of  this  title, showing that the death
    12  resulted from natural  causes  and  was  not  a  result  of  accidental,
    13  suicidal, homicidal or other external causes.
    14    (c)  If  it  is not possible for the funeral director or undertaker to
    15  communicate with the registrar by telephone, verbal permission to remove
    16  a body  of  a  deceased  person  under  the  same  conditions  as  those
    17  prescribed for the registrar may be issued by the commissioner or person
    18  authorized by him.
    19    (d)]  The  funeral  director  or undertaker who shall make any removal
    20  before a permit is issued by the registrar, shall return the body to the
    21  registration  district  where  death  occurred,  whenever  the  coroner,
    22  medical  examiner, or district attorney shall request such return of the
    23  body for investigation or post-mortem examination.
    24    (c) Except as specifically provided  in  this  section,  the  existing
    25  general  duties  of,  and  remuneration received by, local registrars in
    26  accepting and filing  certificates  of  death  and  issuing  burial  and
    27  removal  permits  pursuant  to  any statute or regulation shall be main-
    28  tained, and not altered or abridged in any way by this section.
    29    § 2. Subdivision 7 of  section  4144  of  the  public  health  law  is
    30  REPEALED.
    31    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.