Murphy signs legislation to allow 'natural' burial process
By: Lucas Frau
and Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Governor Phil Murphy has signed a bill that will allow for a "natural" process of decomposing human remains.
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Te bill allows for a "natural" organic reduction" or "controlled supervised decomposition of the human body.
..... The method accelerates the process of turning human remains into soil,said the National Funeral Directors Association.
..... The body is placed in a "container along with organic materials like wood chips, straw and alfalfa," and over several weeks, "microbial activity breaks down the body, transforming it into nutrient-rich soil." both chambers of the Legislature passed the bill in June. [2025] It was first introduced by then-Assemblyman and now U.S. Representative Herb Conaway.
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This process is legal in Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, and is viewed as an eco-friendlier option.
..... The State Board of Mortuary Science can now cerate and relate natural organic reduction facilities and oversight of the organic reduction process. Funeral directors will have to make sure people know a deceased person can still be placed in a cemetery even after the natural organic reduction.
..... The natural organic reduction facility would have to be annually registered and be inspected and approved by the Department of Environmental Protection, with the process under personal supervision, direction, management and control of a person duly licensed as a practitioner of mortuary science or duly licensed as a funeral director. It would have to be at an appropriate distance from drinking water wells.