CS/HB 1177

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to funeral and cemetery industry
3	regulation; amending s. 497.101, F.S.; conforming a
4	reference; amending s. 497.141, F.S.; prohibiting certain
5	persons from conducting, maintaining, managing, owning, or
6	operating licensees under ch. 479; providing an exception;
7	amending s. 497.143, F.S.; revising regulation and
8	practice of limited licensees; amending s. 497.162, F.S.;
9	providing for study courses using the Internet to fulfill
10	continuing education requirements; amending s. 497.260,
11	F.S.; requiring that a provision relating to the
12	installation of monuments applies to all cemeteries in the
13	state; amending s. 497.271, F.S.; revising a reference to
14	a building code in which standards for newly constructed
15	and significantly altered or renovated mausoleums and
16	columbaria may be included; requiring that certain
17	mausoleums contain pressure relief ventilation; amending
18	s. 497.273, F.S.; providing for interment or entombment of
19	a decedent with the remains of the decedent's pet;
20	amending s. 497.367, F.S.; revising the frequency with
21	which licensed funeral directors and embalmers are
22	required to complete a continuing education course on HIV
23	and AIDS; amending s. 497.374, F.S.; revising
24	qualifications for licensure by endorsement for funeral
25	directors; amending s. 497.550, F.S.; replacing the term
26	"monument dealer" with "monument retailer"; creating s.
27	497.609, F.S.; providing freedom from liability for direct
28	disposers, direct disposal establishments, funeral
29	directors, funeral establishments, and cinerator
30	facilities performing cremation under certain
31	circumstances; amending s. 553.36, F.S.; providing
32	definitions; amending ss. 316.515 and 627.702, F.S.;
33	conforming cross-references; providing an effective date.
34
35	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
36
37	Section 1.  Subsection (3) of section 497.101, Florida
38	Statutes, is amended to read:
39	497.101  Board of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services;
40	membership; appointment; terms.--
41	(3)  Board members shall be appointed for terms of 4 years,
42	and the State Health Officer shall serve as long as that person
43	holds that office. The designee of the State Health Officer
44	shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor. When the terms of
45	the initial board members expire, the Chief Financial Officer
46	shall stagger the terms of the successor members as follows: one
47	funeral director, one cemetery representative, the monument
48	builder dealer, and one consumer member shall be appointed for
49	terms of 2 years, and the remaining members shall be appointed
50	for terms of 4 years. All subsequent terms shall be for 4 years.
51	Section 2.  Paragraphs (e), (f), and (g) of subsection (12)
52	of section 497.141, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
53	paragraphs (f), (g), and (h), respectively, and a new paragraph
54	(e) is added to that subsection, to read:
55	497.141  Licensing; general application procedures.--
56	(12)
57	(e)1.  It is unlawful for any person regulated under
58	chapter 395, chapter 400, or chapter 429, or any officer,
59	administrator, or board member of such entity if the entity is a
60	firm, corporation, partnership, or association, or any person
61	owning 5 percent or more of such entity to conduct, maintain,
62	manage, own, or operate a licensee under this chapter.
63	2.  This paragraph does not apply to a board member of a
64	corporation or organization regulated under chapter 395, chapter
65	400, or chapter 429, if the board member serves solely in a
66	voluntary capacity, does not regularly take part in the day-to-
67	day operational decisions of the corporation or organization,
68	receives no remuneration for his or her services, and has no
69	financial interest and has no family members with a financial
70	interest in the corporation or organization.
71	Section 3.  Section 497.143, Florida Statutes, is amended
72	to read:
73	497.143  Licensing; limited licenses for retired
74	professionals.--
75	(1)  It is the intent of the Legislature that, absent a
76	threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the public, the use
77	of retired professionals in good standing to serve the indigent,
78	underserved, or critical need populations of this state during
79	times of critical need should be encouraged. To that end, rules
80	may be adopted to permit practice by retired professionals as
81	limited licensees under this section.
82	(2)  For purposes of this section, the term "critical need"
83	means an executive order from the Governor or a federal order
84	declaring a state of emergency in an area.
85	(3)(2)  Any person desiring to obtain a limited license,
86	when permitted by rule, shall submit to the department an
87	application and fee, not to exceed $300, and an affidavit
88	stating that the applicant has been licensed to practice in any
89	jurisdiction in the United States for at least 10 years in the
90	profession for which the applicant seeks a limited license. The
91	affidavit shall also state that the applicant has retired or
92	intends to retire from the practice of that profession and
93	intends to practice only pursuant to the restrictions of the
94	limited license granted pursuant to this section. If the
95	applicant for a limited license submits a notarized statement
96	from the employer stating that the applicant will not receive
97	monetary compensation for any service involving the practice of
98	her or his profession, the application and all licensure fees
99	shall be waived. In no event may a person holding a limited
100	license under this section engage in preneed sales under such
101	limited license.
102	(4)(3)  Limited licensure may be denied to an applicant who
103	has committed, or is under investigation or prosecution for, any
104	act which would constitute the basis for discipline under this
105	chapter.
106	(5)(4)  The recipient of a limited license may practice
107	only in the employ of public agencies or institutions or
108	nonprofit agencies or institutions which meet the requirements
109	of 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and which
110	provide professional liability coverage for acts or omissions of
111	the limited licensee. A limited licensee may provide services
112	only during times of to the indigent, underserved, or critical
113	need populations within the state. The standard for determining
114	indigency shall be that recognized by the Federal Poverty Income
115	Guidelines produced by the United States Department of Health
116	and Human Services. Rules may be adopted to define underserved
117	and critical need areas and to ensure implementation of this
118	section.
119	(6)(5)  The department may provide by rule for supervision
120	of limited licensees to protect the health, safety, and welfare
121	of the public.
122	(7)(6)  Each applicant granted a limited license is subject
123	to all the provisions of this chapter under which the limited
124	license is issued which are not in conflict with this section.
125	(8)  All limited licensees shall work for an entity
126	licensed under this chapter.
127	Section 4.  Section 497.162, Florida Statutes, is amended
128	to read:
129	497.162  Health and safety education.--All individuals not
130	licensed under this chapter who intend to be employed as
131	operational personnel affiliated with a direct disposal
132	establishment, cinerator facility, removal service,
133	refrigeration facility, or centralized embalming facility, as
134	well as all nonlicensed individuals who intend to be involved in
135	the removal or transportation of human remains on behalf of a
136	funeral establishment, direct disposal establishment, or
137	cinerator facility shall complete one course approved by the
138	licensing authority on communicable diseases, within 10 days
139	after the date that they begin functioning as operational
140	personnel on behalf of any entity that is regulated by this
141	chapter. The course shall not exceed 3 hours and shall be
142	offered at approved locations throughout the state. Such
143	locations may include establishments that are licensed under
144	this chapter. The licensing authority shall adopt rules to
145	implement and enforce this provision, which rules shall include
146	provisions that provide for the use of approved videocassette
147	courses and other types of audio, video, Internet, or home study
148	courses to fulfill the continuing education requirements of this
149	section.
150	Section 5.  Subsection (2) of section 497.260, Florida
151	Statutes, is amended to read:
152	497.260  Cemeteries; exemption; investigation and
153	mediation.--
154	(2)  Section 497.276(1) as to burial records, and ss.
155	497.152(1)(d), 497.164, 497.2765, 497.278, 497.280, and 497.284
156	apply to all cemeteries in this state.
157	Section 6.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section
158	497.271, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
159	497.271  Standards for construction and significant
160	alteration or renovation of mausoleums and columbaria.--
161	(2)  The licensing authority shall adopt, by no later than
162	July 1, 1999, rules establishing minimum standards for all newly
163	constructed and significantly altered or renovated mausoleums
164	and columbaria; however, in the case of significant alterations
165	or renovations to existing structures, the rules shall apply
166	only, when physically feasible, to the newly altered or
167	renovated portion of such structures, except as specified in
168	subsection (4). In developing and adopting such rules, the
169	licensing authority may define different classes of structures
170	or construction standards, and may provide for different rules
171	to apply to each of said classes, if the designation of classes
172	and the application of different rules is in the public interest
173	and is supported by findings by the licensing authority based on
174	evidence of industry practices, economic and physical
175	feasibility, location, or intended uses; provided, that the
176	rules shall provide minimum standards applicable to all
177	construction. For example, and without limiting the generality
178	of the foregoing, the licensing authority may determine that a
179	small single-story ground level mausoleum does not require the
180	same level of construction standards that a large multistory
181	mausoleum might require; or that a mausoleum located in a low-
182	lying area subject to frequent flooding or hurricane threats
183	might require different standards than one located on high
184	ground in an area not subject to frequent severe weather
185	threats. The licensing authority shall develop the rules in
186	cooperation with, and with technical assistance from, the
187	Florida Building Commission of the Department of Community
188	Affairs, to ensure that the rules are in the proper form and
189	content to be included as part of the Florida Building Code
190	State Minimum Building Codes under part IV VII of chapter 553.
191	If the Florida Building Commission advises that some of the
192	standards proposed by the licensing authority are not
193	appropriate for inclusion in such building codes, the licensing
194	authority may choose to include those standards in a distinct
195	chapter of its rules entitled "Non-Building-Code Standards for
196	Mausoleums" or "Additional Standards for Mausoleums," or other
197	terminology to that effect. If the licensing authority elects to
198	divide the standards into two or more chapters, all such rules
199	shall be binding on licensees and others subject to the
200	jurisdiction of the licensing authority, but only the chapter
201	containing provisions appropriate for building codes shall be
202	transmitted to the Florida Building Commission pursuant to
203	subsection (3). Such rules may be in the form of standards for
204	design and construction; methods, materials, and specifications
205	for construction; or other mechanisms. Such rules shall
206	encompass, at a minimum, the following standards:
207	(c)  Such structure must contain adequate provision for
208	drainage and ventilation. Private or family mausoleums with all
209	crypts bordering an exterior wall must contain pressure relief
210	ventilation from the crypts to the outside of the mausoleum
211	through the exterior wall or roof.
212	Section 7.  Subsection (4) is added to section 497.273,
213	Florida Statutes, to read:
214	497.273  Cemetery companies; authorized functions.--
215	(4)  This chapter does not prohibit the interment or
216	entombment of the inurned cremated animal remains of the
217	decedent's pet or pets with the decedent's human remains or
218	cremated human remains if:
219	(a)  The human remains or cremated human remains are not
220	commingled with the inurned cremated animal remains; and
221	(b)  The interment or entombment with the inurned cremated
222	animal remains is with the authorization of the decedent or
223	other legally authorized person.
224	Section 8.  Subsection (1) of section 497.367, Florida
225	Statutes, is amended to read:
226	497.367  Instruction on HIV and AIDS, funeral directors and
227	embalmers.--
228	(1)  Each person licensed as a funeral director or embalmer
229	under this chapter shall be required to complete an approved
230	continuing educational course on human immunodeficiency virus
231	and acquired immune deficiency syndrome as a prerequisite for
232	every third biennial licensure renewal at least every 2 years.
233	The course shall consist of education on the modes of
234	transmission, infection control procedures, clinical management,
235	and prevention of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired
236	immune deficiency syndrome. Such course shall include
237	information on current Florida law on acquired immune deficiency
238	syndrome and its impact on testing, confidentiality of test
239	results, and treatment of patients.
240	Section 9.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
241	497.374, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
242	497.374  Funeral directing; licensure as a funeral director
243	by endorsement; licensure of a temporary funeral director.--
244	(1)  The licensing authority shall issue a license by
245	endorsement to practice funeral directing to an applicant who
246	has remitted a fee set by rule of the licensing authority not to
247	exceed $200 and who:
248	(b)1.  Holds a valid license to practice funeral directing
249	in another state of the United States, provided that, when the
250	applicant secured her or his original license, the requirements
251	for licensure were substantially equivalent to or more stringent
252	than those existing in this state; or
253	2.  Meets the qualifications for licensure in s. 497.373
254	and has, within 10 years prior to the date of application,
255	successfully completed a state, regional, or national
256	examination in mortuary science, which, as determined by rule of
257	the licensing authority, is substantially equivalent to or more
258	stringent than the examination given by the licensing authority.
259	Section 10.  Subsection (1) of section 497.550, Florida
260	Statutes, is amended to read:
261	497.550  Licensure of monument establishments required;
262	procedures and criteria.--
263	(1)  LICENSE REQUIRED.--No person shall conduct, maintain,
264	manage, or operate a monument establishment in this state unless
265	the monument establishment is licensed pursuant to this part.
266	(a)  The two categories of monument establishment licensure
267	available in this state are:
268	1.  Monument builder.
269	2.  Monument retailer dealer.
270	(b)  An applicant for licensure as a monument establishment
271	shall designate on the application form the category of monument
272	establishment licensure for which he or she is applying.
273	(c)  Each monument establishment that is licensed under
274	this chapter at 11:59 p.m. on September 30, 2005, is, on and
275	after October 1, 2005, licensed as a monument retailer dealer
276	subject to the requirements of this chapter. A person who
277	becomes licensed as a monument retailer dealer by operation of
278	this paragraph may apply to the board for licensure as a
279	monument builder and, upon payment of applicable application
280	fees and the granting of such application and licensure as a
281	monument builder, such person's licensure as a monument retailer
282	dealer will expire.
283	(d)  The requirements of this chapter apply to both
284	monument retailers dealers and monument builders, except as
285	provided in this paragraph. Each monument establishment shall be
286	a physical structure that is located at a specific street
287	address, in compliance with zoning regulations of the
288	appropriate local government, and not located on property that
289	is exempt from taxation, but a monument retailer dealer may not
290	otherwise be required to comply with s. 497.552 or be subject to
291	inspection under this chapter.
292	(e)  A monument establishment that is not licensed under
293	the monument-builder category is not eligible for a preneed
294	sales license.
295	Section 11.  Section 497.609, Florida Statutes, is created
296	to read:
297	497.609  Liability of direct disposers, direct disposal
298	establishments, funeral directors, funeral establishments, and
299	cinerator facilities regarding cremation.--If a direct disposer,
300	direct disposal establishment, funeral director, funeral
301	establishment, or cinerator facility is given a copy of the
302	deceased's declaration of intent to be cremated that is signed
303	by the deceased and the deceased's human remains are
304	subsequently cremated, or a court order directing the cremation
305	of the deceased's human remains, no person may make a claim
306	objecting to the cremation against that direct disposer, direct
307	disposal establishment, funeral director, funeral establishment,
308	or cinerator facility. If a direct disposer, direct disposal
309	establishment, funeral director, funeral establishment, or
310	cinerator facility performs a cremation pursuant to the
311	authorization of a legally authorized person who represents that
312	she or he is not aware of any objection to the cremation of the
313	deceased's human remains by others in the same class of the
314	person making the representation or of any person in a higher
315	priority class, and the deceased's human remains are
316	subsequently cremated, no person may make a claim objecting to
317	the cremation against that direct disposer, direct disposal
318	establishment, funeral director, funeral establishment, or
319	cinerator facility.
320	Section 12.  Subsections (5) through (14) of section
321	553.36, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (6)
322	through (15), respectively, present subsections (15) and (16)
323	are renumbered as subsections (17) and (18), respectively, and
324	new subsections (5) and (16) are added to that section, to read:
325	553.36  Definitions.--The definitions contained in this
326	section govern the construction of this part unless the context
327	otherwise requires.
328	(5)  "Columbarium" means a permanent structure consisting
329	of niches.
330	(16)  "Private mausoleum" means a structure intended for
331	the private use of a family or group of family members.
332	Section 13.  Subsection (14) of section 316.515, Florida
333	Statutes, is amended to read:
334	316.515  Maximum width, height, length.--
335	(14)  MANUFACTURED BUILDINGS.--The Department of
336	Transportation may, in its discretion and upon application and
337	good cause shown therefor that the same is not contrary to the
338	public interest, issue a special permit for truck tractor-
339	semitrailer combinations where the total number of overwidth
340	deliveries of manufactured buildings, as defined in s.
341	553.36(13)(12), may be reduced by permitting the use of an
342	overlength trailer of no more than 54 feet.
343	Section 14.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection
344	(5) of section 627.702, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
345	627.702  Valued policy law.--
346	(1)(a)  In the event of the total loss of any building,
347	structure, mobile home as defined in s. 320.01(2), or
348	manufactured building as defined in s. 553.36(13)(12), located
349	in this state and insured by any insurer as to a covered peril,
350	in the absence of any change increasing the risk without the
351	insurer's consent and in the absence of fraudulent or criminal
352	fault on the part of the insured or one acting in her or his
353	behalf, the insurer's liability under the policy for such total
354	loss, if caused by a covered peril, shall be in the amount of
355	money for which such property was so insured as specified in the
356	policy and for which a premium has been charged and paid.
357	(5)  This section does not apply as to personal property or
358	any interest therein, except with respect to mobile homes as
359	defined in s. 320.01(2) or manufactured buildings as defined in
360	s. 553.36(13)(12). Nor does this section apply to coverage of an
361	appurtenant structure or other structure or any coverage or
362	claim in which the dollar amount of coverage available as to the
363	structure involved is not directly stated in the policy as a
364	dollar amount specifically applicable to that particular
365	structure.
366	Section 15.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.