The past month saw significant developments in death care across the mid-Atlantic.
At its Oct. 30 meeting, the Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors spent several hours discussing draft regulations that address topics including the professional responsibility of supervisors for employee misconduct, the licensing of LLCs, and extension of the 10-day rule for holding bodies without board permission. The most extensive debate, however, was over the possibility of requiring funeral homes to have, or have access to, refrigeration. The board will continue discussing the regulations at upcoming meetings.
On Oct. 28, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill introducing separate licenses for funeral directors and embalmers in the state. The sponsor touted that the change “will increase the sustainability of funeral homes throughout our state since many of them are locally owned and struggle to find qualified funeral directors,” and better equip the state’s funeral homes to meet the religious, cultural and philosophical preferences of their communities.
Maryland legalized alkaline hydrolysis earlier this year, and the Joseph H. Brown, Jr. Funeral Home in Baltimore recently performed the first water cremation in the state. Local officials marked the occasion by highlighting that the process produces no air emissions while promoting local legislation that would restrict where flame crematories may be built in the city. State regulators expressed some hesitation, given that regulations governing alkaline hydrolysis have yet to be finalized.
If you have any questions about the Pennsylvania State Board of Funeral Directors, dual licensure, or alkaline hydrolysis, please contact me at any time.
