YARMOUTH, Mass. — The Yarmouth Board of Health on Jan. 6 accepted a revised draft of local green home burial regulations and approved sending the draft, with the evening's edits, on to the Town Council and subsequent public hearing and permitting steps.

The board's action follows a lengthy, line-by-line review during which members added or clarified requirements including an explicit requirement that regional Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) review and approval be completed for each burial request before local action; technical site studies including a hydrogeological evaluation; and prohibitions on vaults and non-biodegradable grave liners.

The draft, described by board members as assembled from state guidance and other sources, sets out the purpose and scope of allowing green home burials on private residential property, requires a certified soil evaluator and a hydrogeological study for site approval, and specifies a burial plot and area of non-disturbance. During the meeting members settled on consistent terminology ("green home burials" in lower case unless starting a sentence) and agreed that the site plan and application checklist would list the technical requirements applicants must submit.

"DEP regulations and requirements are separate and, in addition to this local regulation, must be met and approved by the regional DEP office for each burial request," Mary, a member of the Yarmouth Board of Health, said during the review. That wording was added to the draft to make the DEP-review step explicit.

Key details discussed and placed in the draft include:
- Definitions and prohibitions: the draft defines and bars caskets/vaults and non-biodegradable grave liners for green home burials; the board agreed to add definitions for "grave liner" and "vault" to the regulations.
- Burial plot size and nondisturbance: the draft sets a burial plot as a single-burial area plus a surrounding undisturbed buffer; elsewhere the text specifies a 10-by-12-foot area as the burial plot and area of nondisturbance.
- Family burials and permit reviews: the draft says only burials for immediate family members will be allowed on private property and that each burial requires a separate review and approval; board discussion noted that this wording effectively prevents automatic family plots unless the board later allows one.
- Public health controls: the draft incorporates a definition of "serious pathogenic disease" (highly infectious bacterial or viral diseases and prion diseases) and gives the board authority to deny a green burial in such cases pending its decision.
- Technical studies and qualifications: the draft requires a hydrogeological study, a Massachusetts state-certified soil evaluator, and a professional survey as part of the application materials; the board decided to reference the hydrogeological study in the regulation and place the detailed checklist of required study contents in an application packet or checklist rather than repeating long technical text in the regulation itself.
- Setbacks and drinking-water protections: the draft refers to DEP setback requirements from potable wells and to Title 5 compliance; the board recommended using clear language such as "drinking water" when helpful for public readers.
- Permitting and oversight: the board kept language that green burial must be witnessed by staff of the Health Division and retained provisions about site inspections and permit conditions; a separate fee and application process will be developed to accompany the regulation.

Board members also removed a line that would have required explicit sign-off by the town water superintendent as a prerequisite for the local approval, after discussion that the DEP review and the technical studies are the appropriate initial hurdles. The board moved the DEP review language higher in the process so applicants understand it must be completed early in the application cadence.

A resident speaker at the meeting said he had spoken with MassDEP staff and that MassDEP had not raised objections to a properly sited green burial (the resident referenced a Dec. 19, 2024 email from the Yarmouth Water Superintendent to a MassDEP staff member). The resident also urged the board to consider environmental concerns about embalming fluids and other cemetery practices during their deliberations.

After completing edits across several sections (definitions, siting and setbacks, infectious disease control, site plan and permit requirements), a board member moved to accept the draft as revised on Jan. 6, 2025. The motion was seconded and approved by voice vote; all voting members present said "aye." The board directed staff to forward the revised draft and supporting materials to the Town Council for review and scheduling of a public hearing, and to prepare the application checklist and fees and seek legal review as needed.

The board did not record individual roll-call votes in the minutes; members indicated unanimous approval by voice. The board also scheduled further procedural work to finalize the application packet and to confirm which specific professional qualifications (for example, the exact certification name for soil evaluators) will be required in the checklist.

The board indicated it will revisit any specific technical language after legal review and after it receives written clarification from DEP or other technical reviewers where needed. The next board meeting was discussed as likely in early February 2025, and staff were asked to circulate the revised draft and the proposed checklist to board members and to Town Council staff ahead of the council review.

Ending: The board's vote advances a local regulatory path for green home burials in Yarmouth that relies on MassDEP technical review and on a local permitting checklist; the draft will now proceed to the Town Council and to the public hearing stage before any regulation is adopted and implemented.