Skip to main content
CivicGate

HB 165 DE
Introduced

AN ACT TO AMEND THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HUMAN REMAINS.

DE · session 151 · Assembly / House · bill

A state bill is a proposed law in a state legislature — separate from the U.S. Congress. Learn more →

Introduced Apr 15, 2021

Latest action (Apr 15, 2021) Introduced and Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House

Summary

This Act authorizes the process of natural organic reduction to be used in this State. Natural organic reduction is also known as human composting. This process uses large tanks or similar vessels to hold human remains together with straw, wood chips, or other natural materials for about 30 days. The human remains and organic materials, mixed together with warm air, are periodically turned and the composting process eventually results in reduction of the human remains to a soil material that can then be provided to the deceased individual's family. Natural organic reduction is considered a more eco-friendly cremation alternative, forgoing the usage of formaldehyde and the release of carbon dioxide and mercury into the atmosphere. The process also uses 1/8 the energy of cremation. Section 10 of this Act removes "and by the Attorney General or a deputy attorney general", which was overlooked when Chapter 164 of Volume 68 of the Laws of Delaware was enacted, removing similar language in § 3159 of Title 16. Section 20 of this Act replaces the citation to § 3162 of Title 16 with a citation to § 3159. Section 3162 was transferred to § 3159 when Chapter 31 was reenacted by Chapter 274 of Volume 68 of the Laws of Delaware, but this citation was overlooked. This Act takes effect the earlier of 1 year from the date of the Act's enactment or notice in the Register of Regulations that final regulations to implement this Act have been adopted. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to expand the scope of an existing crime within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, or Justice of the Peace Court.

Sponsors (3)

4 coauthors / cosponsors

Action history (1)

  1. Apr 15, 2021 Introduced and Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House · lower

Text versions (2)

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

  • Bill Text · HTML
  • Bill Text · PDF

Full text

The full text hasn’t been imported yet. CivicGate fetches it from the state legislature’s published version documents — check now.

Comments

Comments

Loading comments…

Data from OpenStates. View on OpenStates →