Public Act 0253 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2146 Enrolled LRB103 28651 CPF 55032 b

Public Act 103-0253

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 Acts and Section repealed on January 1, 2024. The following Acts and Section of an Act are repealed on January 1, 2024: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 Acts repealed on January 1, 2029 and December 31, 2029.

(a) The following Acts are Act is repealed on January 1, 2029: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(b) The following Act is repealed on December 31, 2029: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 10, 22, and 35 as follows:

(410 ILCS 18/10)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2024)

Sec. 10. Establishment of crematory and licensing of crematory authority.

(a) Any person doing business in this State, or any cemetery, funeral establishment, corporation, partnership, joint venture, voluntary organization or any other entity, may erect, maintain, and operate a crematory in this State and provide the necessary appliances and facilities for the cremation of human remains in accordance with this Act.

(b) A crematory shall be subject to all local, State, and federal health and environmental protection requirements and shall obtain all necessary licenses and permits from the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the Department of Public Health, the federal Department of Health and Human Services, and the Illinois and federal Environmental Protection Agencies, or such other appropriate local, State, or federal agencies.

(c) A crematory may be constructed on or adjacent to any cemetery, on or adjacent to any funeral establishment, or at any other location consistent with local zoning regulations.

(d) An application for licensure as a crematory authority shall be in writing on forms furnished by the Comptroller. Applications shall be accompanied by a fee of $100 $50 and shall contain all of the following:

(1) The full name and address, both residence and business, of the applicant if the applicant is an individual; the full name and address of every member if the applicant is a partnership; the full name and address of every member of the board of directors if the applicant is an association; and the name and address of every officer, director, and shareholder holding more than 25% of the corporate stock if the applicant is a corporation.

(2) The address and location of the crematory.

(3) A description of the type of structure and equipment to be used in the operation of the crematory, including the operating permit number issued to the cremation device by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

(4) Any further information that the Comptroller reasonably may require.

(e) Each crematory authority shall file an annual report with the Comptroller, accompanied with a $25 fee, providing (i) an affidavit signed by the owner of the crematory authority that at the time of the report the cremation device was in proper operating condition, (ii) the total number of all cremations performed at the crematory during the past year, (iii) attestation by the licensee that all applicable permits and certifications are valid, (iv) either (A) any changes required in the information provided under subsection (d) or (B) an indication that no changes have occurred, and (v) any other information that the Comptroller may require. The annual report shall be filed by a crematory authority on or before March 15 of each calendar year. If the fiscal year of a crematory authority is other than on a calendar year basis, then the crematory authority shall file the report required by this Section within 75 days after the end of its fiscal year. If a crematory authority fails to submit an annual report to the Comptroller within the time specified in this Section, the Comptroller shall impose upon the crematory authority a penalty of $5 for each and every day the crematory authority remains delinquent in submitting the annual report. The Comptroller may abate all or part of the $5 daily penalty for good cause shown. The $25 annual report fee shall be deposited in the Comptroller's Administrative Fund.

(f) All records required to be maintained under this Act, including but not limited to those relating to the license and annual report of the crematory authority required to be filed under this Section, shall be subject to inspection by the Comptroller upon reasonable notice.

(g) The Comptroller may inspect crematory records at the crematory authority's place of business to review the licensee's compliance with this Act. The Comptroller may charge a $100 fee for the inspection of the licensee. The inspection must include verification that:

(1) the crematory authority has complied with record-keeping requirements of this Act;

(2) a crematory device operator's certification of training and the required continuing education certification are is conspicuously displayed at the crematory;

(3) the cremation device has a current operating permit issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the permit is conspicuously displayed in the crematory;

(4) the crematory authority is in compliance with local zoning requirements;

(5) the crematory authority license issued by the Comptroller is conspicuously displayed at the crematory; and

(6) other details as determined by rule.

(h) The Comptroller shall issue licenses under this Act to the crematories that are registered with the Comptroller as of on March 1, 2012 without requiring the previously registered crematories to complete license applications.

(i) Every license issued under this Act shall be renewed every 5 years for a renewal fee of $100 to be sent to the Comptroller. The renewal fee shall be deposited into the Comptroller's Administrative Fund. The Comptroller, upon the request of an interested person, or on his or her own motion, may issue new licenses to a licensee whose license or licenses have been revoked, if no factor or condition exists that would have warranted the Comptroller to refuse the issuance of the license.

(Source: P.A. 97-679, eff. 2-6-12; 97-813, eff. 7-13-12; 98-463, eff. 8-16-13.)

(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. 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. Each person performing a cremation service shall complete a continuing education cremation course at least 2 hours in length from a provider recognized by the Comptroller every 5 years. 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 shall not take possession of unembalmed human remains that cannot be cremated within 24 hours unless it provides or maintains either of the following capable of maintaining a temperature of less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit: an operable refrigeration unit, with cleanable, noncorrosive interior and exterior finishes, or a suitable cooling room.

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

Section 15. The Illinois Pre-Need Cemetery Sales Act is amended by changing Section 22 as follows:

(815 ILCS 390/22) (from Ch. 21, par. 222)

Sec. 22. Cemetery Consumer Protection Fund.

(a) Every seller engaging in pre-need sales shall pay to the Comptroller $5 for each said contract entered into, to be paid into a special income earning fund hereby created in the State Treasury, known as the Cemetery Consumer Protection Fund. The above said fees shall be remitted to the Comptroller semi-annually within 30 days after the end of June and December for all contracts that have been entered in such 6 month period.

(b) All monies paid into the fund together with all accumulated undistributed income thereon shall be held as a special fund in the State Treasury. The fund shall be used solely for the purpose of providing restitution to consumers who have suffered pecuniary loss arising out of pre-need sales, to help pay expenses of cemeteries or mausoleums in court-ordered receivership, or to satisfy Receiver's fees, or to administer the Comptroller's program for the purpose of cleaning up abandoned or neglected cemeteries located in Illinois.

(c) Restitution or reimbursement for pre-need merchandise or services shall not exceed the reasonable average regional cost of the contracted merchandise at current prices.

(d) Whenever restitution is paid by the fund, the fund shall be subrogated to the amount of such restitution, and the Comptroller shall request the Attorney General to engage in all reasonable post judgment collection steps to collect said restitution from the judgment debtor and reimburse the fund.

(e) (Blank).

(f) The fund may not be allocated for any purpose other than that specified in this Act.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the payment of restitution from the fund shall be a matter of grace and not of right and no purchaser shall have any vested rights in the fund as a beneficiary or otherwise. Prior to seeking restitution from the fund, a purchaser or beneficiary seeking payment of restitution shall apply for restitution on a form provided by the Comptroller. The form shall include any information the Comptroller may reasonably require in order for the Comptroller to determine that restitution or reimbursement for cemetery merchandise or services is appropriate.

(h) Annually, the status of the fund shall be reviewed by the Comptroller, and if she or he determines that the fund together with all accumulated income earned thereon, equals or exceeds $10,000,000 and that the total number of outstanding claims filed against the fund is less than 10% of the fund's current balance, then payments to the fund pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section shall be suspended until such time as the fund's balance drops below $10,000,000 or the total number of outstanding claims filed against the fund is more than 10% of the fund's current balance, but on such suspension, the fund shall not be considered inactive.

(Source: P.A. 101-34, eff. 6-28-19.)

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