The Florida Senate

470.021  Direct disposal establishment; standards and location; registration.--

(1)  A direct disposer shall practice at a direct disposal establishment which has been registered with the department and which may be a cinerator facility licensed under s. 470.025 The board shall establish by rule standards for direct disposal establishments, including, but not limited to, requirements for refrigeration and storage of dead human bodies.

(2)  The practice of direct disposition must be engaged in at a fixed location. No person may open or maintain an establishment at which to engage in or hold himself or herself out as engaging in the practice of direct disposition unless such establishment is registered with the board. Any change in location of such establishment shall be reported promptly to the board as prescribed by rule of the board.

(3)  An application for a direct disposal establishment registration shall be made on a form furnished by the department, shall include the name of the registered direct disposer or licensed funeral director acting as a direct disposer who is in charge of that establishment, and shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee not to exceed $300 as set by the department.

(4)  A direct disposal establishment registration shall be renewed biennially pursuant to procedures and upon payment of a fee not to exceed $300 as set by the board. The board may also establish by rule a delinquency fee not to exceed $50. Any direct disposal establishment registration not renewed within 30 days shall expire without further action by the department or the board.

(5)(a)  Each direct disposal establishment shall at all times be subject to the inspection of all its buildings, grounds, and vehicles used in the conduct of its business, by the department, the Department of Health, and local government inspectors and by their agents. The board shall adopt rules which establish such inspection requirements.

(b)  The board shall set by rule an annual inspection fee not to exceed $100, payable upon application for registration and upon each renewal of such registration.

(6)  Each application for a direct disposal establishment registration must identify every person with the ability to direct the management or policies of the establishment and must identify every person having more than a 10-percent ownership interest in the establishment or the business or corporation which owns the establishment. The board may deny, suspend, or revoke the registration if any person identified in the application has ever been disciplined by a regulatory agency in any jurisdiction for any offense that would constitute a violation of this chapter. The board may deny, suspend, or revoke the registration if any person identified in the application has ever been convicted or found guilty of, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a crime in any jurisdiction that directly relates to the ability to operate a direct disposal establishment.

(7)  Each direct disposal establishment must display at the public entrance the name of the establishment and the name of the direct disposer or licensed funeral director acting as a direct disposer responsible for that establishment. A direct disposal establishment must transact its business under the name by which it is registered.

(8)  Each direct disposal establishment must notify the board in writing prior to any change in ownership, name, or registered person in charge.

(9)  Each registered direct disposal establishment shall have one full-time registered direct disposer or licensed funeral director acting as a direct disposer in charge and reasonably available to the public during normal business hours for that establishment. Such person may be in charge of only one facility.

(10)  A direct disposal establishment may not be operated at the same location as any other direct disposal establishment or funeral establishment unless such establishments were licensed as colocated establishments on July 1, 2000.

History.--ss. 1, 5, ch. 79-231; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 13, 43, ch. 82-179; s. 1, ch. 89-8; s. 45, ch. 89-162; s. 23, ch. 89-374; ss. 20, 122, ch. 93-399; s. 71, ch. 94-119; s. 319, ch. 97-103; s. 229, ch. 99-8; s. 28, ch. 2000-356.