BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: SB 413
S
AUTHOR: LaMalfa
B
AMENDED: March 25, 2011
HEARING DATE: April 27, 2011
4
CONSULTANT:
1
Orr
3
SUBJECT
Disposition of human remains
SUMMARY
Allows for the disposal of human remains when a permit for
disposition has been requested and obtained from the local
registrar, among other requirements. Provides that a
permit for disposal shall be deemed issued if no action is
taken by a local registrar within three weeks after a
request for a permit is made.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Prohibits the disposition of human remains unless a death
certificate has been obtained and filed with the local
registrar of births and deaths and unless the registrar
issues a permit for disposition.
Specifies that, under certain circumstances, neither death
certificates nor permits are required in order to transport
human remains from California to an adjacent state.
Provides that any person who buries or incinerates a body,
removes any remains from the primary registration district
in which the death or incineration occurred or the body was
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 413 (LaMalfa) Page
2
found, or removes remains from a cemetery without the
authority of a burial or removal permit issued by the local
registrar, is guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by
fines.
This bill:
Provides that if no action is taken by a local registrar
within three weeks after a request for a permit for
disposal is made, a permit shall be deemed issued.
Allows for the disposal of human remains when a death
certificate has been obtained and filed with the local
registrar, and when a permit for disposition has been
requested and obtained.
FISCAL IMPACT
This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The author has introduced this bill to create a means by
which deceased persons may be buried or cremated in
instances where, due to budget cuts, furloughs, or lack of
staff, an issuing agency is unable to issue a permit for
the Disposition of Human Remains in a timely fashion. This
bill is in response to anecdotal reporting of delays in the
issuance of permits, which have prohibited constituents
from burying loved ones within timeframes they deemed
appropriate.
Registrars
Health officers of local health departments serve as the
local registrars for their respective health jurisdiction,
and perform all the duties of a local registrar of births
and deaths. The Office of Vital Records (OVR), housed
within the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is
the State Registrar for the State of California. OVR
maintains a permanent, public record of every birth and
death that has occurred in California since July 1905, and
has more than 50 million records on file. OVR is a separate
entity from local registrars and county recorders, but has
supervisory power over local registrars.
Before birth and death records are registered in the OVR
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 413 (LaMalfa) Page
3
state database, they are first registered by the county
health department and recorded by the county recorder's
office in the local jurisdiction where the birth or death
took place. The county health department keeps birth and
death records for current year events and one year prior,
but records for all years are maintained by the county
recorder.
Local registrars are responsible for issuing permits for
the disposal of human remains. Permits can only be issued
after a certificate of death is properly executed,
complete, and filed with the local registrar.
Certificates of death
Death certificates contain identifying information about
the deceased including: birthplace, address, gender, age
and occupation; the place and cause of death; the name of
the physician or coroner; and the name of the funeral
director. Death certificates can be used to review the
cause of death, arrange for a burial or cremation, to
provide evidence of the fact of death (which can be used to
prove a person's will or to make a claim on a person's life
insurance), or used in public health to compile data on
leading causes of death and other statistics.
Death certificates are prepared by funeral directors who
obtain the required non-medical information from the person
or source best qualified to supply this information. The
medical and health section data of the certificate and the
time of death are usually completed and attested to by the
physician and surgeon last in attendance. The funeral
director then registers the certificate with the local
registrar.
In cases of violent, sudden, unusual and other specified
types of deaths, coroners are required to inquire into and
determine the circumstances, manner and cause of death.
For the purpose of inquiry, the coroner has the right to
exhume the body of a deceased person when necessary. In
case of death without medical attendance and without
violence, casualty, criminal or undue means, the coroner
may, without holding an inquest or autopsy, make the
certificate of death from statements of relatives or
persons present at the time of death, after due medical
consultation and opinion has been given.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 413 (LaMalfa) Page
4
Every death is required to be registered with the local
registrar in the jurisdiction in which the death was
officially pronounced, or the body was found, within eight
calendar days after the death, and prior to any disposition
of human remains. Local registrars transmit copies of
original death certificates to the county recorder and
forward original certificates to the State Registrar.
Copies of death certificates marked as work-related are
also transmitted by the local registrar to the Division of
Labor Statistics and Research of the Department of
Industrial Relations each month.
Permits for the disposal of human remains
A permit for the disposition of human remains must specify
the place where the remains will be buried, scattered, or
kept (if cremated). A permit must be issued to the person
having the right to control the disposition of the remains.
A permit cannot be issued by the local registrar if the
death occurred from a disease declared by CDPH to be
infectious, contagious, or communicable and dangerous to
the public health, except under conditions prescribed by
the department or local health officers. The diseases are
determined by CDPH, and the State Registrar is required to
inform all local registrars of these diseases so that when
deaths involving these diseases occur, proper precautions
can be taken to avoid their spread. CDPH also has the
statutory authority to make and enforce regulations for the
embalming, cremation, interment, disinterment and
transportation of the dead in matters relating to
communicable diseases.
Current law does not require permits or death certificates
when human remains are transported from California to an
adjacent state for disposition in that state when the
following conditions are met:
The remains are found within 50 miles of the
California border and the nearest licensed funeral
establishment is within 20 miles of the border in the
adjacent state.
The coroner with jurisdiction over the area in
which the remains were found authorizes their release,
only after the coroner determines that there is no
forensic interest in the remains and that a reasonable
certainty exists that the cause of death will either
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 413 (LaMalfa) Page
5
be provided by the primary physician or by review of
medical records by the coroner or medical examiner.
If the coroner authorizes release of remains to an
out-of-state funeral establishment, the coroner must file a
death certificate with the local registrar within 72 hours
after the remains were found.
Related bills
AB 4 (Miller) would authorize the Cemetery and Funeral
Bureau (Bureau) to license and regulate hydrolysis
facilities and hydrolysis facility managers, as specified.
Would add hydrolyzed human remains to existing law
governing the disposal of cremated human remains, including
disciplinary action, as specified. Pending hearing in the
Assembly business, Professions, and Consumer Protection
Committee on April 26, 2011.
AB 905 (Pan) provides that the designation by a service
member of a person authorized to direct disposition on a
the Record of Emergency Data shall be sufficient to
establish an agent who has the right and duty of
disposition of the remains of that service member, provided
he or she died while on duty in any Branch or Component of
the U.S. Armed Forces. Pending hearing in the Assembly
Veterans Affairs Committee April 26, 2011.
AB 966 (Yamada) would allow a public cemetery district to
expand the definition of an eligible nonresident to include
a person who has a significant and ongoing involvement with
institutions within the district, as specified. Pending
hearing in Assembly Local government Committee on May 11,
2011.
Prior legislation
AB 2283 (Miller) of 2010 would have required the Bureau to
adopt regulations for the safe operation of alkaline
hydrolysis chambers, by July 1, 2011. Held in the Senate
Environmental Quality Committee.
AB 2105 (Emmerson) Chapter 463, Statutes of 2006, allows
human remains to be transported to an adjacent state
without a death certificate or permit for disposition under
specified circumstances.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 413 (LaMalfa) Page
6
Arguments in opposition
The California Association of Public Cemeteries believes
this bill would make a significant exception to the current
requirement of tracking and accounting for the final
disposition of human remains.
COMMENTS
1. Public health implications. Health and Safety Code
Section 103055(b) states that no permit for the disposition
of a body shall be issued by the local registrar whenever
the death occurred from a disease declared by the state
department to be infectious, contagious, or communicable
and dangerous to the public health, except under conditions
prescribed by the state department and local health
officers. SB 413 could allow a permit to be deemed issued
without the express issuance of a permit by the registrar,
without regard to a potential public health threat.
POSITIONS
Support: None received.
Oppose: California Association of Public Cemeteries
-- END --