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Committee hears testimony supporting lowering required crematory temperature to 1,600°F
Summary
Witnesses from the funeral industry and business groups urged the committee to lower Oregon's crematory operating-temperature requirement from 1,800°F to 1,600°F, citing reduced natural gas use, lower greenhouse gas emissions, improved workplace safety, and no known opposition; DEQ said rulemaking is possible but requested apples-to-apples source
House Bill 3729 would prohibit the Department of Environmental Quality, the Environmental Quality Commission or a regional air quality authority from requiring an operator to run a crematory incinerator at temperatures greater than 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. Proponents urged the committee to update Oregon’s standard, which they described as an outlier.
Angela McKenzie Tucker, director of operations for Service Corporation International and legislative chair of the Oregon Funeral Directors Association, testified the industry supports lowering the temperature requirement and that doing so would reduce fossil fuel use and create safer working conditions for crematory technicians. “We find support for this change and really some confusion on why it’s taken us so long to get here,” she said.
Mark Lund, a long-time funeral-home owner and operator, provided numbers: reducing the required temperature, he said, would lower natural gas usage by about 22 percent; with roughly 34,000 human cremations in Oregon in 2023, he estimated a reduction of roughly 1,300 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually (he also noted pets and pet cremations add to the count).
Charla Moffatt of Oregon Business and Industry urged passage, noting DEQ has authority to pursue rulemaking but that a legislative prioritization would ensure the change is addressed. Committee members pressed DEQ staff for clarity: Logan Gillis, DEQ’s legislative coordinator, said a legislative change is not strictly necessary for DEQ to act, but that a rulemaking would be required and DEQ had not yet seen the apples-to-apples source testing demonstrating pollutant differences between 1,600°F and 1,800°F operation.
Committee members asked technical questions about emissions controls, particulate matter, and whether lowering temperature would affect pollution control equipment. Industry witnesses said modern cremators are more precise and that contemporary data — including a manufacturer analysis of many cremations — indicates lower temperatures can reduce visible emissions and natural gas consumption without increasing other pollutants.
No vote was taken; the committee carried the work session to April 8 for paperwork and asked DEQ to follow up with information on the potential cost of a rulemaking and any available source-test data.
Why it matters: proponents said the change would reduce greenhouse gas and natural gas usage, lower operating costs and improve safety for crematory operators. DEQ indicated it could implement a change but requested source-testing information to compare pollutants at different operating temperatures.
Next steps: committee carried the work session to April 8 and asked DEQ to follow up on fiscal and technical questions.
