California: who regulates a crematory besides the funeral board

Air quality, emissions and mercury

• "Every district board may establish, by regulation, a permit system that requires, except as otherwise provided in Section 42310, that before any person builds, erects, alters, replaces, operates, or uses any article, machine, equipment, or other contrivance which may cause the issuance of air contaminants, the person obtain a permit to do so from the air pollution control officer of the district." The grant is permissive — the statute authorises district permit systems rather than itself requiring a crematory permit. (H&SC § 42300(a))
• Rule 1147 "NOx REDUCTIONS FROM MISCELLANEOUS SOURCES", adopted December 5, 2008, amended September 9, 2011, July 7, 2017, and May 6, 2022. May 6, 2022 is the current amendment. (SCAQMD Rule 1147 — NOx Reductions from Miscellaneous Sources)
• The rule reaches crematories through the named category "Burn-off Furnace, Burnout Oven, Incinerator or Crematory with or without Integrated Afterburner", listed under "Gaseous Fuel-Fired Equipment" in both Table 1 and Table 2. "Crematory" appears exactly twice in the rule — once per table — so this category is the rule's entire reach over crematories. (SCAQMD Rule 1147 — equipment category)
• "This rule applies to manufacturers, distributors, retailers, installers, owners, and operators of gaseous and/or liquid fuel fired combustion equipment with NOx emissions that require a South Coast AQMD permit and when other South Coast AQMD Regulation XI rules are not applicable to the Unit." The same clause recurs in the § (c)(35) definition of UNIT. (SCAQMD Rule 1147 § (b) — applicability)
• Process Temperature "All"; NOx limit "60 ppmv or 0.073 lb/MMBtu"; CO limit 1,000 ppmv (the value spanning the Gaseous Fuel-Fired Equipment block containing this row); column header "(ppmv corrected to 3% O2, dry unless otherwise specified)." (SCAQMD Rule 1147 Table 1 (In-Use Units) — crematory row)
• Process Temperature "All"; NOx limit "30 ppmv or 0.036 lb/MMBtu"; CO limit 1,000 ppmv; corrected to 3% O2, dry. Must be read with footnote 2 (see the companion entry): the limit applies to the burner heating the Unit and "applies solely when burning 100% gaseous fuel", demonstrated on natural gas — it is not a stack concentration during cremation. The 30 ppmv figure is immediate only for a New Unit under (d)(6), one "installed, relocated, or replaced after May 6, 2022"; an existing in-use unit remains at Table 1's 60 ppmv until its burner-age clock runs. (SCAQMD Rule 1147 Table 2 — crematory row)
• "Emission limit applies to burners in Unit fueled by 100% natural gas that are used to incinerate air toxics, VOCs, or other vapors; or to heat a Unit. The emission limit applies solely when burning 100% gaseous fuel and not when the burner is incinerating air toxics, VOCs, or other vapors. The Unit shall be tested or certified to meet the emission limit while fueled with natural gas." The 30/60 ppmv limits are burner limits demonstrated on natural gas, not stack concentrations during cremation. (SCAQMD Rule 1147 Tables 1 and 2, footnote 2 — fuel basis)corrected
• § (e)(1)(A): "On or before July 1, 2023 for any Unit where the burner age is 12 years or older... as of January 1, 2023", and "On or before July 1 of the year when a Unit's burner age reaches 12 years." § (e)(2)(A) applies the same structure at 32 years to a Unit that already meets Table 1 and is required to meet Table 2 pursuant to (d)(3). Compliance dates at (e)(1)(B)(i) and (e)(2)(B)(i) both read "12 months after a permit is issued." § (f)(3) provides that "The burner shall be deemed to be 32 years old as of January 1, 2023" where burner age cannot be determined under (f)(2) — a default that accelerates rather than relaxes the deadline. (SCAQMD Rule 1147 §§ (e)(1)(A), (e)(2)(A), (f)(3) — compliance schedule)
• Compliance is driven by burner age rather than unit size, though a facility with five or more subject Units may elect the alternative size-based schedule in § (e)(5) and Table 4, which is keyed to percentages of "the total Rated Heat Input Capacity... of all Units at a facility" and applies "in lieu of the schedule in clause (e)(1)(A)(i) or (e)(2)(A)(i)." The alternative is elective, not mandatory. (SCAQMD Rule 1147 — what drives compliance timing)corrected
• "In lieu of complying with the requirements of paragraphs (d)(1) through (d)(6), an owner or operator of a Unit may elect to comply with the following, whichever is lower: (A) NOx emissions less than one pound per day averaged over a calendar month pursuant to subdivision (g) and maintain records pursuant to subdivision (j); or (B) Any new or existing permit limit of less than one pound of NOx per day." Under § (d)(8), failure to demonstrate compliance requires a Table 2 permit application within 180 days. (SCAQMD Rule 1147 § (d)(7) — small-emitter off-ramp)
• BACT Determination Number 388, BACT Determination Date 01/21/2025, Equipment Description "Crematory, LPG Fired", CATEGORY Type "CREMATORY", BACT Category "Minor Source BACT", approved by Brian F Krebs 01-21-2025. The record is expressly generic: "Permit Number: N/A - Generic BACT Determination", "Equipment Location: N/A - Generic BACT Determination", covering "crematories (Human and Pet)." (SMAQMD BACT Determination 388, "Crematory, LPG Fired")
• The cover sheet reads, verbatim: "Unit Size/Rating/Capacity: Limited to a total charge weight of 749 tons/year." The figure recurs five more times in the document ("Equipment Size/Rating: 749 ton per year charge limit"; "The total charge would be 749 tons per year"; and in the SCR calculations). MANDATORY PUBLICATION CONDITIONS: this figure may not be presented as a throughput cap, and may not be presented as settled — the determination's own "SELECTION OF BACT" section states a conflicting 863 ton per year charge limit. Publish only together with the two companion entries giving the meaning and the conflict. (SMAQMD BACT 388 — equipment size/rating as written)
• The cover sheet states "Unit Size/Rating/Capacity: Limited to a total charge weight of 749 tons/year." This is a per-unit annual CHARGE WEIGHT — the mass of remains plus container fed to a single retort per year — neither facility-wide nor pollutant-specific, and arithmetically derived: 400 lb/hr x 3,744 hours ("12 hrs a day 6 days a week 52 weeks a year") / 2,000 = 748.8 tons. Its regulatory function is to bound the cost-effectiveness analysis: "the burn rate and resultant TPY were raised until the cost effectiveness was reached", concluding that SCR "would not be considered cost effective at this and lower throughputs." It is the sizing basis and applicability ceiling of a generic determination, NOT a rule-imposed cap, and it binds a particular crematory only if carried into that crematory's Authority to Construct or Permit to Operate. MUST BE PUBLISHED WITH THE 863-TON CONFLICT ON ITS FACE — see the companion entry. (SMAQMD BACT 388 — what the 749 tons/year figure means)corrected
• The determination contradicts itself on the charge limit. The cover sheet and cost analysis state 749 tons/year (six occurrences), but the operative Section C heading — the section that actually selects BACT — reads "BACT #388 for a crematory with operation restrictions of 863 ton per year charge limit." 863 appears exactly once and is reconciled nowhere. Report the figure with the conflict on its face and treat the governing number as unresolved pending confirmation from the District. (SMAQMD BACT 388 § C "SELECTION OF BACT" — the 863 vs 749 conflict)corrected
• ROCs Standard: "LPG and a secondary combustion chamber (afterburner) >= 1,600 °F", Basis "Achieved in Practice". NOx Standard: "60 ppmv corrected to 3% O2 or 0.073 lb/MMBTU, measured as emissions from the fuel burning, not with the charge" (attributed in Section C to "SJVACPD, SCAQMD"). PM10 Standard: "LPG-fired with secondary chamber operating at >= 1,600 °F". SOx Standard: "No standard". PM2.5 Standard: "No standard". CO Standard: "Not addressed". "Achieved in Practice" is stated as the basis only for the ROCs line; the other Basis fields are blank. (SMAQMD BACT 388 — pollutant standards)
• "The BACT for CO will be addressed at a later date, when a project exceeds the threshold requiring limitations. It is not expected that this type of equipment will be large enough to trigger BACT requirements for CO, since the District CO BACT trigger level is 550 lbs/day." (SMAQMD BACT 388 — CO trigger)
• A new natural-gas retort in Los Angeles must meet Rule 1147's Table 2 limit of 30 ppmv NOx, demonstrated on 100% natural gas; an existing in-use unit stays at 60 ppmv until its burner reaches the 12-year (or 32-year) trigger. In Sacramento an LPG-fired retort is instead held to a technology-based BACT of 60 ppmv plus a 1,600 °F afterburner, within a generic determination written for a unit of up to roughly 749 tons/year of charge — a sizing basis carried into permits rather than a freestanding cap. The districts differ chiefly in instrument (rule of general application versus BACT determination) and in the fuel each was written around; this is NOT a like-for-like comparison of an identical retort. BACT 388 itself reasons that Rule 1147's standards are "not considered achieved in practice for propane applications", and attributes its own NOx figure to "SJVACPD, SCAQMD." (SCAQMD Rule 1147 vs SMAQMD BACT 388 — how the two districts differ)corrected
• Both the "Hospital waste" and "Medical/infectious waste" definitions exclude "human corpses, remains, and anatomical parts that are intended for interment or cremation." Because HMIWI applicability under subpart Ec is keyed to those two definitions, a human-only crematory falls outside the standards. Independently corroborated by SMAQMD BACT 388: "There are no Federal NSPSs, NESHAPs nor State ATCMs for this source category." (40 CFR 60.51c — HMIWI definitions)
• Neither SCAQMD Rule 1147 nor SMAQMD BACT 388 imposes a mercury limit, mercury monitoring requirement, or amalgam-removal duty, and there is no federal crematory mercury standard. Verified against full text rather than by search: a case-insensitive scan of the complete extracted text of both documents returns zero occurrences of "mercury", "amalgam" or "Hg" (Rule 1147: 50,304 characters, 26 pages; BACT 388: 34,365 characters, 22 pages). The federal prong is corroborated by BACT 388's own statement that "There are no Federal NSPSs, NESHAPs nor State ATCMs for this source category", and by the absence of any crematory NESHAP. (Mercury and dental amalgam in California — absence of any emission limit)
• Mercury from dental amalgam — no emission limit, but a reportable quantity. Neither SCAQMD Rule 1147 nor SMAQMD BACT 388 imposes a mercury limit, monitoring requirement, or amalgam-removal duty, and there is no federal crematory mercury standard. Mercury is nonetheless quantified and reported: South Coast AQMD's Guidelines for Calculating Emissions from Crematory Operations (December 2025), Table 4 "Default TAC EF for Cremation of Human and Animal Remains", sets TAC Code 50, "Mercury and Compounds (Inorganic)", CAS 7439976, at 2.18E-03 lb/ton charged for human cremation against 0.00E+00 lb/ton charged for animal cremation — the dental-amalgam signature, since pets have no fillings — for use in mandatory Annual Emission Reporting. The document instructs that "Criteria pollutant and TAC emissions must be reported separately for each process; combustion of assist fuel, human remains, and animal remains." Table 4's parent heading is "San Diego APCD Default Toxic Air Contaminant Emission Factors", so SCAQMD republishes the San Diego factors. Independently corroborated by Santa Barbara County APCD's Approved Emission Factors for Toxic Air Contaminants (January 2026) § 3.5 "Crematories". NOTE: the document's title block says December 2025, its page-1 running footer says "revised December 2024", and its page-4 footer says "revised December 2025." (SCAQMD Guidelines for Calculating Emissions from Crematory Operations (December 2025), Table 4)corrected
• (a)(1): "Incineration at a permitted medical waste treatment facility in a controlled-air, multichamber incinerator" producing "complete combustion of the waste into carbonized or mineralized ash", or other method of incineration approved by the department. (a)(3): "Other alternative medical waste treatment methods which are both of the following: (i) Approved by the department. (ii) Result in the destruction of pathogenic micro-organisms." Paragraph (a)(3) is what B&P § 7639.08(b) cross-references. (H&SC § 118215(a)(1) and (a)(3) — incineration and alternative methods)
• "6.20.030 - Crematoriums, unlawful to erect etc., within three hundred feet of residences. It is unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to erect, maintain, or operate any buildings, furnace or other appliances for cremating, incinerating, burning or other destroying of human bodies or any parts thereof, within three hundred (300) feet from any established residence in the county unless the use is approved by the planning commission under Section 17.52.035 (B) of this code." The section carries a grandfathering paragraph: the prohibition does not apply "as to any residence or residences, erected or established within the prescribed limits subsequently to the time of posting on the premises... a notice of intention to erect, operate and maintain the buildings, furnaces or other appliances on the posted premises." A crematory that posts notice first is protected against residences that arrive later. History note "(Ord. No. 2011-3, § 1, 1-11-11)." Penalty at § 6.20.040: each day's violation is a separate misdemeanour, fine up to $500 or six months or both. (Alameda County General Ordinance Code § 6.20.030)
• In addition to the findings required under § 17.54.130, the planning commission shall not approve a crematory unit within 300 feet of an established residence unless it can also find that: (1) "Cremation is not the primary use in a residential or commercial area but accessory or ancillary to a related and legally existing mortuary, funeral home, columbarium, or cemetery use"; (2) "Such operation is not a nuisance or threat to public health, safety, or the quiet enjoyment of neighboring occupants"; and (3) "The cremation operation must be permitted by the regional air quality control agency (currently Bay Area Air Quality Management District) prior to issuance of any County ministerial permits." Finding 3 sequences the air regulator ahead of the land-use regulator. PROVENANCE CAVEAT: this text was read in the adopting ordinance (Ord. No. 2011-3, Section II), whose signature block is blank and dated "Of January __, 2011", not in retrieved codified text. It is strongly supported — codified § 6.20.030 cross-references "Section 17.52.035 (B) of this code" by name and carries the history note "(Ord. No. 2011-3, § 1, 1-11-11)" — but publish with the provenance stated. (Alameda County General Ordinance Code § 17.52.035.B)corrected
• "Factory-Built Commercial Crematories. Factory-built commercial incinerators and crematories shall comply with UL 2790 and installed in accordance with the manufacturer's installation instructions." Identical wording in both editions; the section number differs and both are preserved: § 926.2 in the 2016 California Mechanical Code (based on the 2015 UMC, parent § 926.0 "Incinerators and Crematories") and § 925.2 in the 2022 edition (based on the 2021 UMC, parent § 925.0). Cite whichever edition the jurisdiction has adopted and give both numbers. Sibling provisions in both editions: field-constructed commercial-industrial incinerators must comply with NFPA 82 (§ 926.1 / § 925.1); residential incinerators with UL 791 (§ 926.3 / § 925.3). This is the retort-specific Title 24 provision — it is in the Mechanical Code, not the Fire Code. (California Mechanical Code (CCR Title 24, Part 4) § 926.2 (2016) / § 925.2 (2022))

Workplace safety

• "Facilities, services or operations that perform aerosol-generating procedures on cadavers such as pathology laboratories, medical examiners' facilities, coroners' offices, and mortuaries." (8 CCR 5199(a)(1)(F) — scope text)
• 8 CCR 5199(a)(1)(F) names mortuaries, but only within the class of facilities "that perform aerosol-generating procedures on cadavers." That clause is restrictive, not descriptive. "Crematory" appears nowhere in (a)(1), and cremation is not an aerosol-generating procedure performed on a cadaver. The standard reaches a crematory only where it also performs aerosol-generating procedures on decedents — typically embalming or autopsy in an associated prep room — rather than by virtue of being a crematory. (8 CCR 5199 — applicability to a crematory)corrected
• "High hazard procedures" are defined as procedures "performed on a person who is a case or suspected case of an aerosol transmissible disease or on a specimen suspected of containing an ATP-L, in which the potential for being exposed to aerosol transmissible pathogens is increased due to the reasonably anticipated generation of aerosolized pathogens"; so defined they "include, but are not limited to, autopsy, clinical, surgical and laboratory procedures that may aerosolize pathogens." The case-or-suspected-case gate governs the whole definition. (8 CCR 5199(b) — "High Hazard Procedures" definition)corrected
• The exemptions at (a)(2) contain exactly two subparagraphs — (A) outpatient dental clinics or offices and (B) outpatient medical specialty practices whose policy is not to diagnose or treat ATDs — each conditioned on screening and training requirements. No decedent-handling exemption exists. (8 CCR 5199(a)(2) — exemptions)
• There is no federal OSHA aerosol transmissible diseases standard; 8 CCR 5199 is the only standard of its kind and no other state has adopted one. Federal OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, is not an analogue — it addresses bloodborne rather than aerosol transmission. (8 CCR 5199 — no federal equivalent)

Land use, zoning, building and fire code

• Compliance with "all local ordinances, pretreatment requirements, permitting requirements, waste discharge requirements, and all other applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and regulations governing the protection of water quality and public health, promotion of water recycling, and discharge into the sewer system." (B&P § 7639.10(a)(8)(B) — compliance conditions)
• "Except as otherwise provided in this division, this division shall apply to discretionary projects proposed to be carried out or approved by public agencies, including, but not limited to, the enactment and amendment of zoning ordinances, the issuance of zoning variances, the issuance of conditional use permits, and the approval of tentative subdivision maps unless the project is exempt from this division." (PRC § 21080(a) — CEQA applicability)
• Issuance of a conditional use permit is named in PRC § 21080(a) as a discretionary approval to which CEQA applies. Nothing in § 21080 mentions crematories — neither "crematory" nor "cremation" appears in the section. A crematory CUP is covered as an ordinary discretionary approval, subject to the statutory and categorical exemptions; and the CUP is the discretionary approval, not the project, "project" being defined separately at PRC § 21065. (PRC § 21080 — how a crematory use permit is covered)corrected
• A city use permit and a district air permit are separate approvals, so where both are discretionary one agency acts as lead and the other as a responsible agency under PRC §§ 21067 and 21069 — "'Responsible agency' means a public agency, other than the lead agency, which has responsibility for carrying out or approving a project." Where a district issues its permit ministerially, § 21080(b)(1) takes it outside CEQA. The lead/responsible architecture is not in § 21080. (PRC §§ 21067 and 21069 — lead and responsible agencies)corrected
• "Crematories shall be separated by at least five hundred (500) linear feet from residential uses, schools, and day care centers, which distance(s) shall be measured from the nearest points of the Parcel boundary on which the crematory is proposed and the Parcel boundary on which the residential, school or day care center use is located." The measurement rule is parcel boundary to parcel boundary. San Jose is the only one of the four recovered jurisdictions extending the buffer to schools and day care centres as well as residences. (San Jose Municipal Code § 20.50.100, Table 20-110, Note 7)
• Table 20-110 "Industrial Zoning District Use Regulations" has five district columns in the order CIC, TEC, IP, LI, HI. The Crematory row (under "General Services") reads "—, —, —, —, C", with "Note 7" in the Applicable Sections & Notes column. Per § 20.50.100.C, "C" means a Conditional Use Permit under Chapter 20.100; per § 20.50.100.H, "—" means not permitted, and "Land uses not listed on Table 20-110 are not permitted." So in San Jose a crematory is permitted only in the HI Heavy Industrial district, only with a Conditional Use Permit, and only subject to Note 7's 500-foot separation. Corroborating: § 20.200.795 defines "Mortuary and funeral services" and closes "Cremation activities are not allowed as a part of mortuary and funeral services." § 20.90 sets a Crematory parking ratio of "1 per 10 full-time employees." (San Jose Municipal Code § 20.50.100, Table 20-110 — crematory permit status)

Waste, wastewater and environmental review

• The medical waste definition includes "waste generated during preparation of a body for final disposition such as cremation or interment." § 117690(a) is a semicolon-separated list of independent generating activities and this clause stands as its own item, between "waste generated in autopsy or necropsy" and "waste generated in research pertaining to the production or testing of microbiologicals" — it is not subordinated to the health-care-setting qualifier that governs the sharps clause. (H&SC § 117690 — body-preparation clause)
• Waste generated during preparation of a body for cremation is medical waste to the extent it is biohazardous, pathology, pharmaceutical, sharps or trace chemotherapy waste. H&SC § 117700 excludes (c) "Urine, feces, saliva, sputum, nasal secretions, sweat, tears, or vomitus, unless it contains visible or recognizable fluid blood" and (d) "Waste which is not biohazardous, such as paper towels, paper products, articles containing nonfluid blood, and other medical solid waste products." Ordinary refuse from a prep room is not medical waste. (H&SC §§ 117690 and 117700 — what actually counts as medical waste)corrected
• The Act is administered by the California Department of Public Health but enforced in many counties by a designated local enforcement agency (county environmental health), which is where a crematory actually registers. H&SC § 117925 itself distinguishes generators "for whom the department is the enforcement agency." Naming CDPH alone as the counterparty is incomplete. (Medical Waste Management Act — administering and enforcing agency)corrected
• Medical waste may be treated by steam sterilization at "121° Centigrade (250° Fahrenheit) for at least one-half hour." (H&SC § 118215(a) — steam sterilization standard)
• "Hydrolysis chamber manufacturers may apply to the State Department of Public Health for approval of a hydrolysis chamber", approved on the finding that it "causes the destruction of pathogenic micro-organisms pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 118215 of the Health and Safety Code." CDPH borrows the medical waste treatment standard. (B&P § 7639.08(b) — CDPH hydrolysis chamber approval standard)
• "The licensee contains and collects all hydrolysate. Hydrolysate shall not be disposed of using a sewer collection system, except as prescribed in paragraph (8)." (B&P § 7639.10(a)(4) — hydrolysate containment)
• "The city, county, special district, joint powers authority, or other public agency that provides wastewater treatment and disposal services to the licensed hydrolysis facility expressly authorizes the disposal of hydrolysate into the sewer collection system." The subparagraph continues: "If issuance of a permit is required by another city, county, special district, joint powers authority, or other public agency that provides sewer collection services where the licensee is located, authorization from both agencies must be obtained." The veto can therefore be held by two agencies, not one. (B&P § 7639.10(a)(8)(A) — sanitation-agency authorisation)
• "Authorization for disposal of hydrolysate using a sewer collection system shall be voluntary and at the discretion of each public agency described in subparagraph (A). Each public agency described in subparagraph (A) has the discretion to authorize or to prohibit the discharge of hydrolysate into a sewer collection system for any reason, including for purposes of promoting advanced water recycling systems." (B&P § 7639.10(a)(8)(D) — the discretionary veto)
• The applicant for a hydrolysis facility license shall present to the bureau "any state or locally required permits for business operations, including, but not limited to," permits required by "(1) The local public health department. (2) The city, county, special district, joint powers authority, or other public agency that provides wastewater treatment services where the licensed hydrolysis facility is to be located. (3) The Department of Toxic Substances Control for the creation, collection, treatment, or transport of hazardous waste. (4) Any other state or locally required permit" — to the extent applicable. Quote through the enumeration; terminating the sentence early suppresses the statute's own naming of the wastewater agency and DTSC. (B&P § 7639.06(b) — permits the applicant must present)corrected

Consumer protection, escheat and tax

• Under § 1505(b)(1) funeral directors are retailers of caskets, boxes, vaults and clothing, and "are also retailers of any other tangible personal property such as memorial books and digital video discs (DVDs) furnished in connection with rendering their services if a separate charge is made for such property." Under § 1505(b)(2) they are consumers of acknowledgment cards, memorial folders, registration books, embalming fluid, cosmetics, eye caps, morgue supplies, car stickers, prayer books, memorial books and DVDs "unless a separate charge is made for such property." Memorial books and DVDs appear on both sides because of that separate-charge switch. (18 CCR § 1505(b)(1) and (b)(2) — retailer/consumer split)corrected
• Sales and use tax on caskets, boxes, vaults and clothing as enumerated retail items, and on other tangible personal property where separately charged. "Urn" and "urns" appear nowhere in Regulation 1505; an urn is taxable as "any other tangible personal property" under (b)(1) and only where a separate charge is made — a different and conditional basis from the named items. § 1505(d) "'Pre-Need' Agreements" is also directly relevant. (18 CCR § 1505 — scope of the CDTFA sales/use tax row)corrected
• Preneed funeral trust funds escheat under CCP § 1518.5, not the § 1520 residual — § 1520(a) expressly excepts property of the classes mentioned in § 1518.5. § 1518.5(a): "Subject to Section 1510, funds maintained in a preneed funeral trust or similar account or plan escheat to the state if, for more than three years after the funds became payable and distributable pursuant to subdivision (b), as established from the records of the funeral establishment or trustee, the beneficiary or trustor has not corresponded electronically or in writing concerning the property or otherwise indicated an interest." The clock is not a flat three years from payment: subdivision (b) supplies four discrete triggers — the beneficiary attained, or would have attained if living, 105 years of age; 45 years have passed since execution of the preneed funeral agreement; the holder received notification of the death or presumed death of the beneficiary and has not provided the contracted merchandise or services; or a preneed installment trust where the amount due has not been paid during the three preceding years with no communication from trustor or beneficiary. The realistic trigger is notice of death. (CCP § 1518.5(a)-(b) — preneed escheat)corrected
• "Every person holding funds or other property escheated to this state under this chapter shall report to the Controller as provided in this section." § 1518.5 sits in the same chapter (Unclaimed Property Law, CCP §§ 1500 et seq.), so "escheated to this state under this chapter" reaches preneed trust funds. Deadline at § 1530(d): "The report shall be filed before November 1 of each year as of June 30 or fiscal yearend next preceding." (CCP § 1530(a) and (d) — holder report to the Controller)

Transport, scattering and jurisdictional overlays

• "Burial" means "all legal methods of disposing of the remains of a deceased person, including, but not limited to, interment, cremation, burial at sea, and medical school donation." This is the only place in Regulation 1505 where "cremation" or "cremated" appears. (18 CCR § 1505(a)(2) — "Burial" includes cremation)
• "In its approval, the State Department of Public Health shall specify the minimum parameters of pH, time, temperature, and pressure." (B&P § 7639.08(c) — operational parameters)

Other agencies and overlays

• Demonstration including "annual water quality testing as prescribed by the public agency or agencies authorizing the disposal." The annual testing is a floor — the subparagraph is framed "At a minimum this should include..." — with the scope of demonstration otherwise as deemed appropriate by the public agency. (B&P § 7639.10(a)(8)(C) — demonstration and testing)
• "Ministerial projects proposed to be carried out or approved by public agencies" are excluded. Subdivision (b) runs to sixteen paragraphs. (PRC § 21080(b)(1) — ministerial exclusion)
• § 1505(a)(1) defines "Funeral director" as "any person or entity that is engaged in providing a burial service or services and may include, but is not limited to, funeral directors, undertakers, morticians, embalmers, or cemetery brokers", and (a)(2) defines "Burial" to include cremation. A cremation provider is therefore a "funeral director" for the regulation's purposes, even though Regulation 1505 is titled "Funeral Directors" and never mentions a crematory as a business type. (18 CCR § 1505(a)(1)-(a)(2) — a cremation provider is a "funeral director")