Fabio
84 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
84 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 9, 12, 16, 24, AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HUMAN REMAINS."
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description: "House Bill 162 authorizes the process of natural organic reduction to be used in this State. Natural organic reduction is the gentle, respectful process that accelerates the decomposition of human remains to soil. This process uses large vessels to hold human remains together with straw, wood chips, or other natural materials for about 30 days. The human remains and organic materials, mixed together with warm air, are periodically turned and the process eventually results in reduction of the human remains to a soil material that can then be provided to the deceased individual's family. Natural organic reduction is considered a more eco-friendly cremation alternative, forgoing the usage of formaldehyde and the release of carbon dioxide and mercury into the atmosphere. The process also uses 1/8 the energy of cremation."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/de"
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legislature: "Delaware General Assembly"
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session: "152"
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identifier: "HB 162"
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citation: "Delaware HB 162 (152)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Bryan Townsend", "Cyndie Romer", "Eric Morrison", "Kendra Johnson", "Kerri Evelyn Harris", "Laura V. Sturgeon", "Marie Pinkney", "Paul S. Baumbach", "Peter C. Schwartzkopf", "Sarah McBride", "Sean M. Lynn", "Sean Matthews", "Sherry Dorsey Walker", "Trey Paradee"]
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version_count: 2
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action_count: 12
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vote_count: 2
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first_action: "2023-06-22"
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last_action: "2024-05-16"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9e814bd7-a9bc-4db8-9c13-ceca8dcdaf03"
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source_url: "https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=140705"
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source_hash: "3d76db53e5e22b7235e5bf67b8aff605e69384b3b38caf82f2270433043a2612"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-de"]
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---
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# Delaware HB 162 (152) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 9, 12, 16, 24, AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HUMAN REMAINS.
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House Bill 162 authorizes the process of natural organic reduction to be used in this State. Natural organic reduction is the gentle, respectful process that accelerates the decomposition of human remains to soil. This process uses large vessels to hold human remains together with straw, wood chips, or other natural materials for about 30 days. The human remains and organic materials, mixed together with warm air, are periodically turned and the process eventually results in reduction of the human remains to a soil material that can then be provided to the deceased individual's family. Natural organic reduction is considered a more eco-friendly cremation alternative, forgoing the usage of formaldehyde and the release of carbon dioxide and mercury into the atmosphere. The process also uses 1/8 the energy of cremation.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Bill Text** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=140705&legislationTypeId=6&docTypeId=2&legislationName=HS1forHB162)
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2. **HA 3 to HS 1 for HB 162** (committee substitute) — [source](http://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GeneratePdfDocument?legislationId=140749&legislationTypeId=5&docTypeId=2)
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## Votes
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- SM — **37–2** (pass) · lower
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- SM — **14–7** (pass) · upper
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## Sponsors
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- Bryan Townsend — primary (person)
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- Cyndie Romer — primary (person)
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- Eric Morrison — primary (person)
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- Kendra Johnson — primary (person)
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- Kerri Evelyn Harris — primary (person)
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- Laura V. Sturgeon — primary (person)
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- Marie Pinkney — primary (person)
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- Paul S. Baumbach — primary (person)
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- Peter C. Schwartzkopf — primary (person)
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- Sarah McBride — primary (person)
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- Sean M. Lynn — primary (person)
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- Sean Matthews — primary (person)
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- Sherry Dorsey Walker — primary (person)
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- Trey Paradee — primary (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2023-06-22** was introduced and adopted in lieu of HB 162 `introduction`
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- **2023-06-23** Amendment HA 1 to HS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
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- **2023-06-27** Amendment HA 2 to HS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
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- **2023-06-28** Amendment HA 3 to HS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
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- **2024-01-23** Amendment HA 1 to HS 1 - Stricken in House
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- **2024-01-23** Amendment HA 2 to HS 1 - Stricken in House
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- **2024-01-23** Amendment HA 3 to HS 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
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- **2024-01-23** Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 2 NO 1 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT `passage`
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- **2024-01-23** Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate `introduction, referral-committee`
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- **2024-03-13** Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 5 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2024-03-21** Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 7 NO `passage`
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- **2024-05-16** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9e814bd7-a9bc-4db8-9c13-ceca8dcdaf03`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).
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