Bill Text: NY S09517 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to certain duties and responsibilities of cemetery corporations; provides for the filing of consumer complaints; requires insurance coverage for injuries caused by collapsed monuments and structures.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-07-29 - REFERRED TO RULES [S09517 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S09517-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9517

                    IN SENATE

                                      July 29, 2022
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

        AN ACT to amend the  not-for-profit  corporation  law,  in  relation  to
          certain duties and responsibilities of cemetery corporations

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subparagraph 4 of paragraph (c)  of  section  1504  of  the
     2  not-for-profit  corporation  law, as added by chapter 557 of the laws of
     3  1985, is amended and two new subparagraphs 4-a and 4-b and a  new  para-
     4  graph (e) are added to read as follows:
     5    (4)  To impose a civil penalty upon a cemetery corporation not exceed-
     6  ing one thousand  dollars,  after  conducting  an  adjudicatory  hearing
     7  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  paragraph  (e)  of  this section, and
     8  consistent with the provisions of  the  state  administrative  procedure
     9  act,  for  a  violation  of  or  a failure to comply with any provisions
    10  contained in this article or any regulation, directive or order  of  the
    11  board,  and  without  the  need  to  maintain a civil action pursuant to
    12  subdivision five of this paragraph. (4-a) To adopt reasonable rules  and
    13  regulations  requiring  that  each  cemetery  corporation  shall carry a
    14  liability insurance policy that provides coverage with respect to claims
    15  arising out of the death or bodily injury of any person as a  result  of
    16  the  collapse  of any monument, embellishment or other marker on a plot,
    17  lot or part thereof, regardless of whether any such collapse was  caused
    18  by an act of vandalism committed by a person other than the claimant, in
    19  such  amounts  as  the board determines to be adequate for such purpose.
    20  (4-b) To adopt reasonable rules and regulations requiring  the  approval
    21  of  a  licensed  engineer  prior  to:   the excavation of any grave, the
    22  construction, installation or removal of any mausoleum, vault, columbar-
    23  ium or other similar structure, the pouring of concrete for  foundation,
    24  and  other  construction  or maintenance activities involving the use of
    25  heavy machinery.
    26    (e) Complaint process. Upon receipt of a consumer complaint form,  the
    27  division  of  cemeteries  shall  forward  such complaint to the cemetery
    28  corporation involved and contact the consumer no later than the close of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16166-01-2
        S. 9517                             2

     1  business on the day following  the  date  on  which  the  complaint  was
     2  received.  The  cemetery  corporation  shall  respond to the division of
     3  cemeteries within fourteen calendar days after receipt of such  consumer
     4  complaint.  If  the  initial  complaint  is not resolved by the cemetery
     5  corporation, the consumer may request that the complaint be escalated to
     6  the cemetery board for investigation  and  resolution  thereof.  When  a
     7  complaint  is  escalated,  the board may take any action it deems neces-
     8  sary, consistent with the powers and duties of the cemetery board pursu-
     9  ant to paragraph (c) of this section. Upon completion  of  its  investi-
    10  gation, the board shall send a written resolution to the consumer.
    11    §  2. Section 1510 of the not-for-profit corporation law is amended by
    12  adding a new paragraph (p) to read as follows:
    13    (p) Privacy and dignity of cemetery plots. No cemetery corporation  or
    14  religious  corporation  having  charge  and  control of a cemetery shall
    15  infringe on the privacy and dignity of the  remains  of  deceased  human
    16  beings.  Cemeteries  shall ensure all employees and third-party contrac-
    17  tors display proper respect for the deceased when on  cemetery  grounds.
    18  In  the  event  that  construction  or  other activity which impairs the
    19  privacy and dignity of the plot is to take place  on  cemetery  grounds,
    20  the cemetery corporation shall, not less than fourteen days prior to the
    21  commencement  of  such  construction  or  other  activity,  notify  each
    22  affected plot owner, owner's distributee or person filing  an  affidavit
    23  with  such corporation pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph one of
    24  paragraph (e) of section fifteen hundred twelve of this article.
    25    § 3. Subparagraph 8 of paragraph (h) of section 1507 of  the  not-for-
    26  profit  corporation  law, as amended by chapter 380 of the laws of 2000,
    27  is amended and a new subparagraph 9 is added to read as follows:
    28    (8) Nothing contained in this paragraph is to be construed[ as  giving
    29  a  cemetery  corporation  an  "insurable interest" in monuments or other
    30  embellishments on a plot, lot or part thereof, nor is it meant] to imply
    31  that the cemetery  corporation  has  any  responsibility  for  repairing
    32  vandalism damage not covered by this fund, nor for repairing or removing
    33  out of repair or dilapidated monuments or other markers not owned by the
    34  cemetery  corporation, nor shall it constitute the doing of an insurance
    35  business.
    36    (9) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of  subparagraph  eight  of
    37  this paragraph or any other provision of law to the contrary, a cemetery
    38  corporation  shall  have  an "insurable interest" in monuments and other
    39  embellishments on a plot, lot  or  part  thereof  for  the  purposes  of
    40  obtaining  liability  insurance  in  accordance with the requirements of
    41  subparagraph four-a of paragraph (c) of section fifteen hundred four  of
    42  this article.
    43    § 4. Section 1510-b of the not-for-profit corporation law, as added by
    44  chapter 580 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
    45  § 1510-b. Availability for interment on six-day basis.
    46    Every  cemetery corporation shall be available for interments at least
    47  six days per week, excluding legal holidays, as set forth in  the  ceme-
    48  tery's  regulations  or  in  accordance with its practices. Any cemetery
    49  which maintains and designates a burial section for persons of a partic-
    50  ular religious belief must  remain  available  for  grave  openings  and
    51  interments  Sunday  through Friday or other six-day period in accordance
    52  with the religious and/or ethnic traditions of the persons  interred  in
    53  said  religious  section,  and shall remain available for grave openings
    54  and interments outside of normal business hours in the case  of  persons
    55  belonging to a religious and/or ethnic tradition that requires burial or
    56  interment  of  a decedent prior to sunset on the date of such decedent's
        S. 9517                             3

     1  death, provided that any  additional  costs  incurred  by  the  cemetery
     2  corporation  as a result of such burial or interment shall be chargeable
     3  to the person requesting such services outside of normal business hours.
     4  Nothing  in  this  section  shall  require  a  cemetery to provide grave
     5  openings and/or interments if they are otherwise unable to do so  as  to
     6  direct  consequence of severe weather conditions or other similar condi-
     7  tions.
     8    § 5. The not-for-profit corporation law is amended  by  adding  a  new
     9  section 1510-d to read as follows:
    10  § 1510-d. Religious inspectors.
    11    Every  cemetery  corporation  which  maintains and designates a burial
    12  section for persons of  a  particular  religious  belief  and/or  ethnic
    13  tradition shall appoint a person having authority from, or in accordance
    14  with,  the  rules and regulations governing such religious belief and/or
    15  ethnic tradition to ensure that the cemetery is in compliance  with  the
    16  applicable  rules and regulations governing such religious belief and/or
    17  ethnic tradition with  respect  to  burials.  Each  inspector  appointed
    18  pursuant  to this section shall be made in consultation with the members
    19  of such religious belief and/or ethnic tradition from the  community  in
    20  which the cemetery is located.
    21    §  6. Section 1513 of the not-for-profit corporation law is amended by
    22  adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
    23    (e) Disclosure. No cemetery corporation subject to the  provisions  of
    24  this article shall sell or convey any right to use any lot, plot or part
    25  thereof  to  any  person  unless  such  cemetery  corporation shall have
    26  disclosed to such person the condition of the soil under such lot,  plot
    27  or part thereof, including but not limited to the existence of groundwa-
    28  ter  or  any  other defects or past disturbances which may substantially
    29  impair or alter the natural condition of the soil.
    30    § 7. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    31  have become a law.