republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2022/sb-129.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Alkaline hydrolysis; work group to determine regulatory & statutory changes needed to legalize, etc."
description: "Definitions; cremate; crematory; alkalinehydrolysis. Expands the definition of \"cremate\" to include reducinga dead human body to ashes and bone fragments through alkaline hydrolysis,a water-based process of dissolution using alkaline chemicals andagitation known as aquamation. The bill adds \"aquamator\" as an additionalterm for the existing definition of \"cremator.\" The bill also adds\"aquatorium\" as an additional term for the existing definition of\"crematory\" or \"crematorium\" and amends the definition to includea facility containing a pressure vessel. Under current law, \"cremate\"means to reduce a dead human body to ashes and bone fragments bythe action of fire, and \"crematory\" or \"crematorium\" means a facilitycontaining a furnace for cremation of dead human bodies."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "SB 129"
citation: "Virginia SB 129 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Joseph D. Morrissey"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 31
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-01-07"
last_action: "2022-04-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ee3fe96a-07e1-4b53-9ace-752c839c29c2"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+sum+SB129"
source_hash: "a1f7f1a6e8d61e634cc756c7e012f60044d04b5e9d09e018af1e845b8dbefb29"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 129 (2022) — Alkaline hydrolysis; work group to determine regulatory & statutory changes needed to legalize, etc.

Definitions; cremate; crematory; alkalinehydrolysis. Expands the definition of "cremate" to include reducinga dead human body to ashes and bone fragments through alkaline hydrolysis,a water-based process of dissolution using alkaline chemicals andagitation known as aquamation. The bill adds "aquamator" as an additionalterm for the existing definition of "cremator." The bill also adds"aquatorium" as an additional term for the existing definition of"crematory" or "crematorium" and amends the definition to includea facility containing a pressure vessel. Under current law, "cremate"means to reduce a dead human body to ashes and bone fragments bythe action of fire, and "crematory" or "crematorium" means a facilitycontaining a furnace for cremation of dead human bodies.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0191** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+CHAP0191)
2. **Committee substitute printed 22105960D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+SB129S1)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22100630D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+SB129)
4. **SB129ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?221+ful+SB129ER)

## Votes

- House amendment agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with amendment(s) (20-Y 1-N) — **20–1** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (80-Y 19-N) — **80–18** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (14-Y 0-N 1-A) — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (35-Y 0-N) — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 1-A) — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Joseph D. Morrissey — primary (person)
- Kim A. Taylor — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2022-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/12/22 22100630D `introduction`
- **2022-01-07** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-11** Impact statement from DPB (SB129)
- **2022-02-02** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2022-02-02** Reported from General Laws and Technology with substitute (14-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-02** Committee substitute printed 22105960D-S1 `substitution`
- **2022-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (35-Y 0-N)
- **2022-02-04** Impact statement from DPB (SB129S1)
- **2022-02-07** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2022-02-07** Reading of substitute waived
- **2022-02-07** Committee substitute agreed to 22105960D-S1
- **2022-02-07** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB129S1
- **2022-02-08** Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N 1-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-02-23** Placed on Calendar
- **2022-02-23** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2022-02-23** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2022-02-24** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with amendment(s) (20-Y 1-N) `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-28** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2022-03-01** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2022-03-01** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2022-03-01** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2022-03-01** Passed House with amendment (80-Y 19-N) `passage`
- **2022-03-01** VOTE: Passage (80-Y 19-N)
- **2022-03-03** House amendment agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N)
- **2022-03-08** Enrolled
- **2022-03-08** Signed by President
- **2022-03-08** Signed by Speaker
- **2022-03-09** Impact statement from DPB (SB129ER)
- **2022-03-22** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 22, 2022
- **2022-03-22** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2022
- **2022-04-07** Approved by Governor-Chapter 191 (effective 7/1/22) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ee3fe96a-07e1-4b53-9ace-752c839c29c2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).