(a) A licensed hydrolysis facility shall not conduct hydrolysis unless all of the following requirements are met:

(1) The licensee has a written contract with the person or persons entitled to custody of the remains clearly stating the location, manner, and time of disposition of the remains, in which the person or persons entitled to custody of the remains agree to pay the licensee’s regular fee for hydrolysis, disposition, and other services rendered, and any other contractual provisions required by the bureau.

(2) Hydrolysis of remains occurs not more than 24 hours after delivery of the remains to the licensee unless the remains have been preserved in the interim by refrigeration or embalming.

(3) The licensee has a contractual relationship with a licensed cemetery authority for final disposition of hydrolyzed human remains by burial, entombment, or inurnment of any and all remains that are not lawfully disposed of or that are not called for or accepted by the person or persons entitled to the custody and control of the disposition of those remains within 90 days of date of death.

(4) The licensee contains and collects all hydrolysate. Hydrolysate shall not be disposed of using a sewer collection system, except as prescribed in paragraph (8).

(5) The licensee ensures that any hydrolysate is transported by a state-licensed biomaterials handler to a publicly owned wastewater treatment plant or licensed industrial anaerobic digestion facility or waste-to-energy or biomass facility for the beneficial use or disposal of that hydrolysate, unless disposing of hydrolysate using a sewer collection system as prescribed in paragraph (8).

(6) Acceptance of hydrolysate from a licensed hydrolysis facility and a state-licensed biomaterials handler shall be voluntary and at the discretion of each individual facility described in paragraph (5).

(7) Acceptance of hydrolysate by a licensed industrial anaerobic digestion, waste-to-energy, or biomass facility, if the facility has an industrial process sewer connection to a sewer collection system, shall only be allowed with the consent of the publicly owned treatment works to which the sewer collection system is tributary.

(8) A licensed hydrolysis facility may dispose of hydrolysate using a sewer collection system only if all of the following conditions are met:

(A) 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. 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.

(B) If the licensee receives the appropriate permissions required by subparagraph (A), the licensee shall comply 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.

(C) The licensee shall demonstrate compliance as deemed appropriate by the public agency or agencies authorizing the disposal of hydrolysate into the sewer collection system. At a minimum this should include annual water quality testing as prescribed by the public agency or agencies authorizing the disposal of hydrolysate into the sewer collection system.

(D) 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) Existing alkaline hydrolysis facilities utilized by medical schools for the purpose of anatomical gifting shall not be subject to paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a), and shall continue to be regulated under the guidelines of the state’s anatomical gifting regulations.

(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 846, Sec. 4. (AB 967) Effective January 1, 2018. Section operative July 1, 2020, pursuant to Section 7639.19.)