SB2146 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 28651 CPF 55032 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2146

Introduced 2/10/2023, by Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

5 ILCS 80/4.34
5 ILCS 80/4.39
410 ILCS 18/22
410 ILCS 18/35

Amends the Regulatory Sunset Act. Provides that the Crematory Regulation Act is repealed on January 1, 2029 (rather than January 1, 2024). Amends the Crematory Regulation Act. Provides that a person who is certified to perform a cremation service in this State must complete, at least once every 5 years after the amendatory Act's effective date, a continuing education cremation course that is at least 2 hours in length and that is offered by a continuing education provider recognized by the Comptroller in order for that person to perform a cremation service in this State. Requires crematory authorities to provide or maintain an operable refrigeration unit that (1) has cleanable, noncorrosive interior and exterior finishes, (2) is capable of maintaining a temperature of less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and (3) is capable of containing at least 3 human bodies. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Regulatory Sunset Act is amended by changing Sections 4.34 and 4.39 as follows:

(5 ILCS 80/4.34)

Sec. 4.34. Acts and Section repealed on January 1, 2024. The following Acts and Section of an Act are repealed on January 1, 2024:

The Crematory Regulation Act.

The Electrologist Licensing Act.

The Illinois Certified Shorthand Reporters Act of 1984.

The Illinois Occupational Therapy Practice Act.

The Illinois Public Accounting Act.

The Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004.

The Registered Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist Title Protection Act.

Section 2.5 of the Illinois Plumbing License Law.

The Veterinary Medicine and Surgery Practice Act of 2004.

(Source: P.A. 102-291, eff. 8-6-21.)

(5 ILCS 80/4.39)

Sec. 4.39. Acts repealed on January 1, 2029 and December 31, 2029.

(a) The following Acts are Act is repealed on January 1, 2029:

The Environmental Health Practitioner Licensing Act.

The Crematory Regulation Act.

(b) The following Act is repealed on December 31, 2029:

The Structural Pest Control Act.

(Source: P.A. 100-716, eff. 8-3-18; 100-796, eff. 8-10-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)

Section 10. The Crematory Regulation Act is amended by changing Sections 22 and 35 as follows:

(410 ILCS 18/22)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2024)

Sec. 22. Performance of cremation service; training. A person may not perform a cremation service in this State unless he or she has completed training in performing cremation services, and received certification by a program recognized by the Comptroller , and satisfied the continuing education requirement set forth in this Section. The crematory authority must conspicuously display the certification at the crematory authority's place of business. Any new employee shall have a reasonable time period, not to exceed one year, to attend a recognized training program. In the interim, the new employee may perform a cremation service if he or she has received training from another person who has received certification by a program recognized by the Comptroller and is under the supervision of the trained person. A person who is certified to perform a cremation service in this State must complete, at least once every 5 years after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, a continuing education cremation course that is at least 2 hours in length and that is offered by a continuing education provider recognized by the Comptroller in order for that person to perform a cremation service in this State. For purposes of this Act, the Comptroller may recognize any training program that provides training in the operation of a cremation device, in the maintenance of a clean facility, and in the proper handling of human remains. The Comptroller may recognize any course that is conducted by a death care trade association in Illinois or the United States or by a manufacturer of a cremation unit that is consistent with the standards provided in this Act or as otherwise determined by rule.

(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-12; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)

(410 ILCS 18/35)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2024)

Sec. 35. Cremation procedures.

(a) Human remains shall not be cremated within 24 hours after the time of death, as indicated on the Medical Examiner's/Coroner's Certificate of Death. In any death, the human remains shall not be cremated by the crematory authority until a cremation permit has been received from the coroner or medical examiner of the county in which the death occurred and the crematory authority has received a cremation authorization form, executed by an authorizing agent, in accordance with the provisions of Section 15 of this Act. In no instance, however, shall the lapse of time between the death and the cremation be less than 24 hours, unless (i) it is known the deceased has an infectious or dangerous disease and that the time requirement is waived in writing by the medical examiner or coroner where the death occurred or (ii) because of a religious requirement.

(b) Except as set forth in subsection (a) of this Section, a crematory authority shall have the right to schedule the actual cremation to be performed at its own convenience, at any time after the human remains have been delivered to the crematory authority, unless the crematory authority has received specific instructions to the contrary on the cremation authorization form.

(c) No crematory authority shall cremate human remains when it has actual knowledge that human remains contain a pacemaker or any other material or implant that may be potentially hazardous to the person performing the cremation.

(d) No crematory authority shall refuse to accept human remains for cremation because such human remains are not embalmed.

(e) Whenever a crematory authority is unable or unauthorized to cremate human remains immediately upon taking custody of the remains, the crematory authority shall place the human remains in a holding facility in accordance with the crematory authority's rules and regulations. The crematory authority must notify the authorizing agent of the reasons for delay in cremation if a properly authorized cremation is not performed within any time period expressly contemplated in the authorization.

(f) A crematory authority shall not accept a casket or alternative container from which there is any evidence of the leakage of body fluids.

(g) The casket or the alternative container shall be cremated with the human remains or destroyed, unless the crematory authority has notified the authorizing agent to the contrary on the cremation authorization form and obtained the written consent of the authorizing agent.

(h) The simultaneous cremation of the human remains of more than one person within the same cremation chamber, without the prior written consent of the authorizing agent, is prohibited except for common cremation pursuant to Section 11.4 of the Hospital Licensing Act. Nothing in this subsection, however, shall prevent the simultaneous cremation within the same cremation chamber of body parts delivered to the crematory authority from multiple sources, or the use of cremation equipment that contains more than one cremation chamber.

(i) No unauthorized person shall be permitted in the holding facility or cremation room while any human remains are being held there awaiting cremation, being cremated, or being removed from the cremation chamber.

(j) A crematory authority shall not remove any dental gold, body parts, organs, or any item of value prior to or subsequent to a cremation without previously having received specific written authorization from the authorizing agent and written instructions for the delivery of these items to the authorizing agent. Under no circumstances shall a crematory authority profit from making or assisting in any removal of valuables.

(k) Upon the completion of each cremation, and insofar as is practicable, all of the recoverable residue of the cremation process shall be removed from the cremation chamber.

(l) If all of the recovered cremated remains will not fit within the receptacle that has been selected, the remainder of the cremated remains shall be returned to the authorizing agent or the agent's designee in a separate container. The crematory authority shall not return to an authorizing agent or the agent's designee more or less cremated remains than were removed from the cremation chamber.

(m) A crematory authority shall not knowingly represent to an authorizing agent or the agent's designee that a temporary container or urn contains the cremated remains of a specific decedent when it does not.

(n) Cremated remains shall be shipped only by a method that has an internal tracing system available and that provides a receipt signed, in either paper or electronic format, by the person accepting delivery.

(o) A crematory authority shall maintain an identification system that shall ensure that it shall be able to identify the human remains in its possession throughout all phases of the cremation process.

(p) A crematory authority must provide or maintain an operable refrigeration unit that:

(1) has cleanable, noncorrosive interior and exterior finishes;

(2) is capable of maintaining a temperature of less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit; and

(3) is capable of containing at least 3 human bodies.

(Source: P.A. 102-824, eff. 1-1-23.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.