The Florida Senate

470.025  Cinerator facility; licensure.--

(1)  No person may conduct, maintain, manage, or operate a cinerator facility unless a license for such facility has been issued by the department.

(2)  Application for licensure of cinerator facilities shall be on a form furnished and prescribed by the department and shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable license fee of up to $300 as set by board rule. No license may be issued unless the cinerator facility has been inspected and approved as meeting all requirements as set forth by the department, the Department of Health, the Department of Environmental Protection, or any local ordinance regulating the same. The board shall establish by rule standards for cinerator facilities, including, but not limited to, requirements for refrigeration and storage of dead human bodies, use of forms and contracts, and record retention.

(3)  Licenses shall be renewed biennially in accordance with a schedule established by the department. The nonrefundable biennial renewal fee shall be up to $300 as set by board rule. The board may also establish by rule a delinquency fee not to exceed $50. Any cinerator facility license not renewed within 30 days shall expire without further action by the department or the board.

(4)  A change in ownership of a cinerator facility shall be promptly reported to the department and may require the relicensure of the cinerator facility, including reinspection and payment of applicable fees.

(5)  The board shall adopt rules requiring each facility to submit periodic reports to the department which include the names of persons cremated, the date and county of death, the name of each person supervising each cremation, the name and license number of the establishment requesting cremation, and the types of containers used to hold the body during cremation.

(6)  No more than one dead human body may be placed in a retort at one time, unless written permission has been received from a legally authorized person for each body.

(7)(a)  Each cinerator facility 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 Environmental Protection, 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 licensure and upon each renewal of such license.

(8)  A cinerator facility licensed under this section shall only receive dead human bodies for cremation. A cinerator facility may not receive other materials, such as medical, hazardous, and biohazardous waste, for the purpose of disposal in a retort.

(9)  Each cinerator facility shall be under the general supervision of a licensed funeral director or registered direct disposer who shall be responsible for making sure the facility, its operations, and all persons employed in the facility comply with all applicable state and federal laws and rules.

(10)  Each application for a cinerator facility license must identify every person with the ability to direct the management or policies of the facility and must identify every person having more than a 10-percent ownership interest in the facility or the business or corporation which owns the facility. The board may deny, suspend, or revoke the license 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 license 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 cinerator facility.

(11)  Each cinerator facility must display at the public entrance the name of the facility and the name of the funeral director or direct disposer responsible for that facility. A cinerator facility must transact its business under the name by which it is licensed.

(12)  A cinerator facility located at the same address as a funeral establishment may not have a direct disposer as its individual in charge.

(13)  A cinerator facility shall not place human remains in a retort unless the human remains are in an alternative container or casket. Human remains may be transported or stored if they are completely covered, and at all times treated with dignity and respect. None of the provisions contained in this subsection require the purchase of a casket for cremation. This subsection applies to at-need contracts and preneed contracts entered into pursuant to chapter 497 after June 1, 1996.

(14)  Each cinerator facility shall ensure that all alternative containers or caskets used for cremation contain no amount of chlorinated plastics not authorized by the Department of Environmental Protection, that they also are composed of readily combustible materials suitable for cremation, able to be closed to provide a complete covering for the human remains, resistant to leakage or spillage, rigid enough for handling with ease, and able to provide for the health, safety, and personal integrity of the public and crematory personnel.

(15)  The board shall adopt, by rule, criteria for acceptable alternative containers.

History.--ss. 1, 5, ch. 79-231; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; s. 1, ch. 89-8; s. 47, ch. 89-162; s. 25, ch. 89-374; s. 22, ch. 91-137; s. 140, ch. 92-149; ss. 24, 122, ch. 93-399; s. 73, ch. 94-119; s. 456, ch. 94-356; s. 5, ch. 96-355; s. 230, ch. 99-8.