Arizona: who regulates a crematory besides the funeral board

Air quality, emissions and mercury

• Air permitting is county-delegated: "the review, issuance, administration and enforcement of permits issued pursuant to this chapter shall be by the county or multi-county air quality control region." The sentence opens "Except as specified in subsection A of this section"; subsection A reserves ADEQ original jurisdiction over major sources in counties lacking NSR/PSD approval, metal ore smelting, petroleum refineries, coal-fired generating stations, Portland cement plants, portable and mobile sources, and Title V sources in counties with a disapproved Title V program. A crematory is none of these, so the county-delegation proposition binds a crematory. (A.R.S. § 49-402(B))
• The ADEQ director may take jurisdiction only after acting first: "After the director has provided prior written notice to the control officer describing the reason for asserting jurisdiction and has provided an opportunity to confer, the county or multi-county air quality control region shall relinquish jurisdiction." (A.R.S. § 49-402(B) — director's assertion of jurisdiction)
• Rule 313 "INCINERATORS, BURN-OFF OVENS, AND CREMATORIES", most recently revised 12/11/2024 (earlier revisions 07/13/88, 04/07/93, 09/22/04, 05/09/12). (Maricopa County Rule 313 — Incinerators, Burn-Off Ovens, and Crematories)
• "A retort incinerator used for the cremation of remains (human or animal), body parts, and associated wrappings." The definition continues with an existing/new test: a crematory manufactured, constructed, modified or which commenced operation prior to September 22, 2004 is an existing crematory. That test drives the 1400 °F / 1600 °F split at §§ 304.4 and 304.5. (Maricopa County Rule 313 § 210 (CREMATORY))
• "An owner or operator shall not cause, allow, or permit emissions into the atmosphere from any incinerator, burn-off oven, or crematory, any air contaminant that exceeds 20% opacity for a period aggregating more than 30 seconds in any 60-minute period." Crematories are expressly named in the standard and § 102.3 makes the rule applicable to crematories. (Maricopa County Rule 313 § 301.1 (opacity))
• Particulate emissions shall not "exceed 0.080 grain per cubic foot of dry flue gas at standard conditions adjusted to 7% oxygen (O2) in the exhaust gases and calculated as if no auxiliary fuel had been used." § 301 applies to "an incinerator, burn-off oven, or crematory listed in § 102" and § 102.3 lists crematories. (Maricopa County Rule 313 § 301.2 (particulate))
• "The secondary compartment or afterburner shall operate at a minimum temperature of at least 1400 °F with a residence time of at least one second during the period of combustion" in order to destroy the combustion products. § 304.4 also imposes a pre-ignition threshold: "The burner in the primary chamber shall not be ignited until the secondary chamber combustion zone temperature is equal to or greater than 800 °F." The floor is not absolutely rigid — § 304.6 lets manufacturer recommendations substitute for §§ 304.4/304.5 for large charges or special circumstances on notice to the department. (Maricopa County Rule 313 § 304.4 (existing crematories))
• For new crematories the second sentence of § 304.4 is repeated word for word with "at least 1600 °F" in place of 1400 °F. The first sentences differ: § 304.5 sets a 1000 °F pre-ignition threshold against § 304.4's 800 °F. (Maricopa County Rule 313 § 304.5 (new crematories))
• § 502 recordkeeping: chart recordings or printouts showing a continuous record of secondary chamber temperatures for each burn cycle (§ 502.7), charge weight (§ 502.8, per-charge weight for human crematories), and start and end times of each burn cycle and the unit it occurred in (§ 502.6); plus opacity records whose form depends on the monitoring method chosen under § 301.1(b) — a continuous record of opacity readings only where a COMS or VEM is used (§ 502.1(a)), otherwise per-observation records of date, time, sky conditions, observer position and Method 9 certifications (§§ 502.1(b)-(c)). A crematory using a visible-emission observer keeps no continuous opacity record at all. (Maricopa County Rule 313 § 502 (recordkeeping))corrected
• The last general permit PDEQ issued is dated May 19, 2020 and expired May 18, 2025. A revised general permit bearing a July 23, 2025 draft footer was public-noticed as a proposal from November 7 to December 9, 2025; as of this check its effective and expiration dates remain placeholders ("PERMIT EFFECTIVE: XXXX, 2025 EXPIRATION DATE: xxxx, 2030"), it is unsigned, and Pima's General Permits page still posts only the 2020 permit. Cite conditions to the 2020 issued permit unless verifying that the revision has since been issued. Condition numbers differ between the two versions and the 2025 draft contains internal cross-reference errors. (PDEQ General Permit No. 6085, "Human and Animal Crematories" — document status)corrected
• "The facility covered by this permit constitutes a Class III; True Minor Stationary Source based on 4380 hours of operation per year (sunrise to sunset)." Identical in the issued 2020 permit and the proposed 2025 revision, and corroborated by PDEQ's Technical Support Document, which computes potential emissions assuming "the maximum charging rate for a typical cremator is 150 lbs/hr operating 4380 hrs per year." (PDEQ General Permit 6085 — Class III / true minor basis)
• "Owners/operators of crematories may obtain coverage under this General Permit in lieu of an individual permit. Such parties shall do so by obtaining an Authorization To Operate (ATO) that identifies each crematory unit which will attest to their formal agreement to abide by all conditions contained in this permit." Present in both versions; PDEQ's November 2025 public notice lists 16 facilities holding ATOs under GP 6085. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 — coverage mechanism (Authorization To Operate))
• Particulate "shall not exceed 0.08 grains per cubic foot, based on dry flue gas at standard conditions, corrected to 12 percent carbon dioxide, except for not more than 30 seconds in any 60 minute period. [PCC 17.16.170.C.1 & PCC 17.16.170.E.1]" This is cond. 9 of the signed 2020 permit; the identical sentence with identical authority appears at cond. 16 of the proposed 2025 revision, so the 12 percent carbon dioxide basis is an operative Pima requirement and not an artifact of the unissued draft. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 cond. 9 (issued 2020) — particulate)
• Both counties write the same numeric particulate limit on different correction bases. Maricopa: "0.080 grain per cubic foot of dry flue gas at standard conditions adjusted to 7% oxygen (O2)." Pima: "0.08 grains per cubic foot, based on dry flue gas at standard conditions, corrected to 12 percent carbon dioxide." 0.080 and 0.08 are the same value. State this as a difference in correction convention — 12% CO2 is the legacy convention for incinerator grain-loading and 7% O2 the modern one — and not as evidence that one county is stricter; no stringency delta has been quantified. The counties do NOT diverge on operating hours: both condition nighttime operation on continuous opacity monitoring. Maricopa Rule 313 § 301.4(a) requires a crematory conducting nighttime combustion to "Operate a COMS at all times during nighttime combustion operations" or "Operate a VEM at all times during nighttime combustion operations" (§ 219 defines NIGHTTIME COMBUSTION as "Combustion that occurs after sundown and before the following sunrise"; § 301.4(c) lets the Control Officer rescind nighttime restrictions by variance during a Governor-declared public health emergency). Pima's issued 2020 permit restricts operation to sunrise-to-sunset outright. Maricopa is more permissive only in accepting a VEM as well as a COMS. (Maricopa Rule 313 § 301.2 vs Pima GP 6085 cond. 9 — the correction-basis comparison)
• The issued 2020 permit's cond. 10 bars emissions "which exceeds 20 percent opacity. Crematories shall be exempt from opacity requirements for a period not more than 30 seconds in any 60 minute period", with EPA Method 9 appearing separately at testing cond. 27. The proposed 2025 revision restates the limit at cond. 17 as 20 percent opacity by EPA Method 9 with the same 30-second-per-60-minute allowance [PCC 17.16.040, 17.16.170.B, 17.16.170.E.1]. The 20 percent threshold and the 30-second allowance are common to both; the "by EPA Method 9" phrasing is draft-specific. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 cond. 10 (issued 2020) — opacity)
• Under the issued 2020 permit the restriction is absolute: "The Permittee shall only operate the crematory unit(s) between the hours of official sunrise and sunset. [PCC 17.16.170.A]" The proposed 2025 revision (cond. 19.a) would add an exception where a Continuous Opacity Monitoring System operates at all times during nighttime combustion "and meets with the requirement of Attachment 2 Requirement 38 and 39." As the law currently stands the restriction is stricter, not looser, than a COMS-exception reading suggests. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 cond. 12.a (issued 2020) — daylight operating restriction)corrected
• Design: the unit "shall be a dual-chamber design, consisting of a primary charging chamber and a secondary chamber (or afterburner), with burners located in each chamber." Fuel: the unit "shall fire only natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas." Both appear word for word in the issued 2020 permit (conds. 1 and 5) and in the proposed 2025 revision (conds. 8 and 12); only the condition numbering differs. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 conds. 1 and 5 (issued 2020) — design and fuel)
• "The Permittee shall not cremate any hospital, medical infectious, radioactive or hazardous waste." Word for word at cond. 3 of the issued 2020 permit and cond. 10 of the proposed 2025 revision. Each of the four waste terms is separately defined in the permit's definitions table. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 cond. 3 (issued 2020) — feed restriction)
• "Prior to ignition of the primary burner to start cremation, the secondary combustion chamber temperature... shall be maintained at operating levels specified by the manufacturer (typically 1200 ºF or greater and a minimum residence time for combustion gases of at least one second)." The proposed 2025 revision would raise the typical figure to 1400 ºF at cond. 19.d. Note this is a pre-ignition threshold, not a continuous operating floor, and the figure is expressed as a manufacturer-referenced typical value rather than a binding numeric limit. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 cond. 12.d (issued 2020) — secondary chamber temperature)corrected
• The issued 2020 permit requires daily visible emissions checks "conducted by a person who is familiar with the emissions from the crematory (but does not need to be Method 9 certified)." The proposed 2025 revision would, for facilities electing daily visible checks rather than a COMS, require an operator or person certified in EPA Method 9 visible emission observations on site while the units are operating (cond. 23.a.1). Under current law there is expressly no on-site certified-observer duty. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 cond. 16 (issued 2020) — opacity observer competence)corrected
• The issued 2020 permit contains no large-charge threshold; the string does not occur. Under the proposed 2025 revision only, a facility electing daily visible checks rather than a COMS would be required to conduct certified Method 9 observations "when cremating large charges over 300 pounds" (cond. 23.a.2.iii). The 300 lb figure is independently real on the Maricopa side at Rule 313 § 217. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 — large-charge threshold)corrected
• Retention: "All records required by this permit shall be retained for at least five years. [PCC 17.13.020.A.4.b]" Location: "The Permittee shall retain all records relating to this permit and a copy of the permit at the permit site", subject to a written request and Control Officer approval for an alternate location. Verbatim in both versions (2025 draft conds. 30 and 31). Maricopa matches at Rule 313 § 501.1, so the two counties agree on retention. (PDEQ General Permit 6085 conds. 22 and 23 (issued 2020) — record retention and location)
• Both definitions carry the same carve-out. Hospital waste: "The definition of hospital waste does not include human corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or cremation." Medical/infectious waste "does not include... human corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or cremation." A crematory burning only human remains is therefore not an HMIWI under 40 CFR 60 subpart Ec. Both versions of Pima GP 6085 reproduce these exclusions in their definitions tables. (40 CFR 60.51c — HMIWI definitions)
• No Arizona instrument reviewed imposes a mercury emission limit, monitoring duty, or amalgam-removal requirement on crematories. Verified by exhaustive full-text search: zero occurrences of "mercury", "amalgam" or "dental" in Maricopa Rule 313, in the issued 2020 GP 6085, or in the proposed 2025 revision. Rule 313's only hazardous-air-pollutant hook is § 102.4, pointing to NESHAP obligations in Rule 370 generally, which creates no crematory mercury duty. This is a documented regulatory decision rather than an unexplained silence: PDEQ's Technical Support Document measured "0.001292 lbs (0.586 grams) of mercury per body cremated", projected "0.01 tons of mercury each year" for a typical cremator, and concluded "Mercury emissions from cremators are therefore not a significant concern... it would be burdensome and of no environmental benefit to require additional controls for mercury." (Mercury and dental amalgam in Arizona — verified absence)

Workplace safety

• ADOSH is a division of the Industrial Commission of Arizona, administering an OSHA-approved State Plan under the Arizona Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1973, A.R.S. §§ 23-401 to 23-433. Jurisdiction over a private Arizona crematory is sound. (ADOSH — Industrial Commission of Arizona, jurisdictional basis)
• Worker safety at private Arizona workplaces, excluding maritime employment, federal enclaves, USPS contract operations and Indian reservations, where federal OSHA retains jurisdiction. The Arizona State Plan does not have unqualified statewide reach. (ADOSH — scope of worker-safety jurisdiction)corrected

Land use, zoning, building and fire code

• "b. Cemetery. A crematorium, columbarium, mausoleum and mortuary may be permitted as an accessory use provided there is no direct access from these accessory uses to a public street." The provision sits inside § 647 "Special Permit Uses," under § 647.A.1 — uses for which "A special permit may be granted by the Council upon recommendation of the Commission... in all districts in which such use is not otherwise allowed" — and specifically under the Cemetery entry. The accessory-use permission therefore attaches to a cemetery that has obtained a Council special permit; it is not a general permission for crematoria. Phoenix imposes no distance standard. Currency: the retrieved page states the ordinance is "current through Ordinance G-7461, passed December 3, 2025"; § 647's amendment history ends at "Ord. No. G-7396, § 5, 2025." (Phoenix Zoning Ordinance § 647.A.1.b)
• "A crematorium shall be setback a minimum of 200 feet from any property line." This general property-line setback binds in every direction regardless of neighbouring zoning. CURRENCY CAVEAT: verified as of amlegal version "2023 S-138, Current through June 6, 2023" — verified as of that date, not confirmed as present law. Re-check before publishing as current. (Tucson Unified Development Code § 4.9.4.N.1)
• "A crematorium shall be setback a minimum of 500 feet from any boundary of the site that adjoins property in a residential zone." The 500-foot rule runs from a boundary of the crematorium's own site that adjoins residentially zoned property, not from a residential zone boundary in the abstract. Tucson imposes both this and the 200-foot general setback at § 4.9.4.N.1 — two setbacks, not one. CURRENCY CAVEAT: verified as of amlegal version "2023 S-138, Current through June 6, 2023" — verified as of that date, not confirmed as present law. Re-check before publishing as current. (Tucson Unified Development Code § 4.9.4.N.2)

Waste, wastewater and environmental review

• The biohazardous medical waste Article applies to "A person who generates medical sharps in the preparation of human remains." The section opens "This Article applies to the following", so this provision is framed as an inclusion. (A.A.C. R18-13-1402(A)(8))
• Arizona's biohazardous medical waste Article both includes and conditionally exempts corpse preparers, and the two provisions agree. R18-13-1402(A)(8) applies the Article to "A person who generates medical sharps in the preparation of human remains." R18-13-1403 ("Exemptions; Partial Exemptions"), subsection (B) ("Conditional Exemptions"), paragraph (1) conditionally exempts "A person who prepares human corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or cremation. However, medical sharps must be disposed of as prescribed by this Article." Net effect: preparation of remains is exempt from the Article's general requirements, but medical sharps generated in that preparation remain fully regulated. A crematory performing cremation only, with no preparation work, generates no medical sharps and the Article's obligations do not attach. (A.A.C. R18-13-1402(A)(8) with R18-13-1403(B)(1) — combined effect)corrected

Consumer protection, escheat and tax

• "The act, use or employment by any person of any deception, deceptive or unfair act or practice, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, or concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely on such concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise whether or not any person has in fact been misled, deceived or damaged thereby" is declared an unlawful practice. The section itself does not name the enforcing officer; Attorney General enforcement authority sits elsewhere in the article. (A.R.S. § 44-1522(A) — Consumer Fraud Act)
• "All other property is presumed abandoned three years after the owner's rights to demand the property or after the obligation to pay or distribute the property arises, whichever occurs first." The second, independent trigger and the "whichever occurs first" rule can start the clock earlier than the owner's demand right. (A.R.S. § 44-302(16) — residual abandonment period)corrected
• Arizona's unclaimed property act contains no preneed-specific abandonment period. Preneed funds would fall under the residual provision at A.R.S. § 44-302(16), presuming abandonment three years after the owner's right to demand the property or the holder's obligation to pay or distribute arises, whichever occurs first — but the statute does not name preneed funds among its enumerated categories, the § 44-301 definitions do not reference prepaid funeral or burial contracts, and the trigger date for a revocable preneed trust is not resolved by the cited text. Arizona's preneed provisions at A.R.S. § 32-1391 et seq. were not analysed for an interaction. (A.R.S. § 44-302 applied to preneed funds)corrected
• "A holder of property that is presumed abandoned shall make a report to the department", filed "before November 1", covering "the last twelve months before July 1 of that year." "The department" is defined at A.R.S. § 44-301 as the department of revenue. (§ 44-307 sets an earlier May 1 deadline for life insurance companies, which does not reach a crematory.) (A.R.S. § 44-307 — holder report)

Transport, scattering and jurisdictional overlays

• No pilot in command may allow "any object to be dropped from that aircraft in flight that creates a hazard to persons or property." But "this section does not prohibit the dropping of any object if reasonable precautions are taken to avoid injury or damage to persons or property." Aerial scattering is not flatly prohibited. (14 CFR 91.15 — dropping objects from aircraft)
• "The scattering of human ashes from cremation is prohibited, except pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit, or in designated areas according to conditions which may be established by the superintendent." (36 CFR 2.62(b) — scattering on National Park Service land)
• The federal minor New Source Review program applies "in all Indian reservation lands where no EPA-approved program is in place and all other areas of Indian country where no EPA-approved program is in place and over which an Indian tribe, or the EPA, has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction." Outside reservation lands the program reaches only areas where tribal jurisdiction has been demonstrated. "Reviewing authority" is a defined term at 40 CFR 49.152(d), not in § 49.151. (40 CFR 49.151(c)(1) — federal minor NSR in Indian country)corrected
• "Cremated remains shall be buried in or on ocean waters without regard to the depth limitations specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section provided that such burial shall take place no closer than 3 nautical miles from land." Reporting: "All burials conducted under this general permit shall be reported within 30 days to the Regional Administrator of the Region from which the vessel carrying the remains departed." (40 CFR 229.1 — burial at sea)

Other agencies and overlays

• Arizona incorporates "Subparts B through Z inclusive of the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Standards for General Industry, as published in 29 CFR 1910", with amendments as of July 14, 2020. "This incorporation by reference does not include amendments or editions to 29 CFR 1910 published after July 14, 2020." Binds a crematory as a general-industry employer. (A.A.C. R20-5-602 — incorporation of 29 CFR 1910)
• The rule reaches "all conditions and practices related to general industry activity by all employers, both public and private, in the state of Arizona; provided that this Section shall not apply to those conditions and practices which are the subject of R20-5-601" (the construction standards at 29 CFR 1926). (A.A.C. R20-5-602 — general-industry scope)
• It is "an unfair or deceptive act or practice for a funeral provider, or a crematory, to require that a casket be purchased for direct cremation." Providers must "make an alternative container available for direct cremations, if they arrange direct cremations." The rule names crematories directly, which matters because a crematory serving only funeral homes rather than the public would not otherwise meet the "funeral provider" definition at 16 CFR 453.1. Binds as federal law regardless of Arizona funeral licensure. (16 CFR 453.4(a)(1) and (a)(2) — FTC Funeral Rule)