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Utah Senate advances bill allowing 'natural organic reduction' with new disclosure and container rules
Summary
After two hours of debate, the Senate substituted and advanced a bill to legalize 'natural organic reduction' (human composting) in funeral-director settings. Sponsors added a second substitute requiring markers and removable containers for soil placed on private property; the bill cleared second reading 16–10 and will move toward a third reading.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate moved forward Monday with legislation that would allow 'natural organic reduction' — a form of human composting — to be performed in licensed funeral-home settings, prompting a heated floor debate about property disclosure and protections for future owners.
Senator Jen Plumb, sponsor of the measure, told colleagues the bill was drafted after constituent requests and consultations with burial-industry and emergency-health partners. "This is essentially a process that can happen, if you choose it, at the end of life," Plumb said, describing the procedure and noting public-health exclusions in the draft. She cited safeguards: "There has to be documentation as well as a certification, that there has not been a death from some of the more concerning illnesses like tuberculosis, prion diseases, or Ebola." (Sen. Plumb)
Plumb sai…
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