Ash Scattering in Seattle, WA: Why Puget Sound and the Open Coast Follow Different Rules

Most families planning a ceremony out of Seattle start from the same assumption. Burial at sea is federal, the rule is three nautical miles from shore, and Puget Sound is salt water, so the Sound must count.

It does not. The federal permit and the Sound do not overlap at all, and the reason is a line on a nautical chart that almost nobody outside the permitting world has heard of.

This is worth settling before you book a boat, because it changes who you ask for permission and what you are allowed to put in the water.

The federal permit applies seaward of the baseline, not three miles from any shore

The EPA authorizes burial at sea under a general permit issued through the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, published at 40 CFR 229.1. The permit covers human remains only, cremated and non-cremated. It requires placement at least three nautical miles from shore. No application is filed in advance, no fee is charged, and the burial is reported to the EPA within 30 days after the fact.

The three mile figure is the part everyone remembers. The part that decides the Seattle question sits earlier in the definition.

The MPRSA applies in ocean waters. The EPA defines ocean waters as the open seas lying seaward of the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured, and it describes that baseline in plain terms: the mean lower low water line along the coast, plus the closing lines drawn on official United States nautical charts across river mouths and the openings of bays and harbors.

Then the agency states the consequence outright. The MPRSA does not extend to waters of the United States inside the baseline on the coast.

The three nautical mile condition points at the same chart feature. The EPA describes shore, for this purpose, as the ordinary low water mark or a closing line drawn across the openings of bays and rivers. Both the qualifying test and the distance test are anchored to the baseline.

What that means for a ceremony in the Sound

Puget Sound sits landward of that line. So does most of the water people picture when they picture a Seattle memorial.

This is not a loophole and it is not bad news. It means a different body of law governs the ceremony. The EPA says as much in its own FAQ: scattering of cremated remains in lakes, rivers or other inland waters is not subject to federal regulation under the MPRSA, and states may authorize burials in inland waters, including rivers, lakes and bays, under state law or the Clean Water Act.

Two things follow immediately.

A ceremony in the Sound is not conducted under the federal general permit, so the 30 day report to the EPA does not apply to it. Families sometimes ask for a copy of that filing as a keepsake. For a Sound ceremony there is nothing to file.

The three nautical mile distance does not govern the Sound either. That does not mean anything goes. It means the constraint comes from Olympia rather than Washington, D.C.

Washington's rule is one sentence, and it names a permission you have to go get

RCW 68.50.130 makes it a misdemeanor to dispose of human remains anywhere other than a cemetery, a family burial ground, or a building dedicated exclusively for religious purposes, except as otherwise provided by law. The statute then carves out the exception that matters here.

Disposition of human remains following cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction may also occur on private property with the consent of the property owner, and on public or government lands or waters with the approval of the government agency that has either jurisdiction or control, or both, of the lands or waters.

Read the last clause slowly. The statute does not say scattering in state waters is unregulated. It says the disposition may occur with the approval of the agency that has jurisdiction or control.

For the marine waters of Puget Sound, that question starts with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, which manages the state's 2.6 million acres of state-owned aquatic lands, including the marine waters of Puget Sound, the coast, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Ask which authorization, if any, applies to the specific spot you have in mind. Do not assume a charter operator has already asked on your behalf, and do not assume the answer is identical in a state park, a tribal area, or a national marine sanctuary.

One more note on that statute. It was amended in 2026 to add alkaline hydrolysis and natural organic reduction alongside cremation. If you are working from a printout or an older article, check the current text.

Full-body burial is where the answer changes completely

Everything above concerns remains that have already been reduced. A full-body burial is a different question, and the two rulebooks close on it from opposite sides.

The federal permit authorizes full-body burial only in ocean waters at least three nautical miles from land and at least 600 feet deep. Puget Sound is not ocean waters under the MPRSA, so the permit does not reach it whatever the depth on the chart says.

And the Washington exception for public waters is written to apply only to disposition following cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction. A full body does not sit inside it.

If a full-body burial at sea is what the family wants, the route is the open coast under the federal permit, or the U.S. Navy program if the person served. The Navy program carries a detail families are often not told up front: the committal is performed while the ship is deployed, so family members are not present.

Reaching ocean waters from Seattle is a trip, not a longer charter

Once the destination is ocean waters, geography does the rest. From Seattle, the water that qualifies lies outward through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, not across the Sound.

Where exactly the baseline falls on the chart is not something to settle from a blog post or a brochure. It is a chart question with a specific answer for a specific position, and the office that can confirm it is the EPA's Region 10 marine protection permitting contact. Call before you commit to a departure point, not after.

Plan for weather, distance, and a longer day on the water than a Sound charter implies. A memorial timed to slack water in a sheltered bay and a memorial conducted in ocean waters off the coast are different operations, with different boats and different margins for a bad forecast.

What to ask before you book

  • Is this ceremony taking place in the Sound, or in ocean waters seaward of the baseline?
  • If it is in the Sound, whose approval is the operator relying on, and can they show it to you?
  • If it is in ocean waters, what is the intended position, and who files the 30 day report to the EPA?
  • Are the ashes going in loose, or in a container? If in a container, is any part of it plastic, and does it sink?
  • Are flowers or wreaths going in the water, and are they readily decomposable in the marine environment?

The EPA is specific on those last two. A container used for cremated remains must not contain plastic of any kind, must not float, and must not otherwise contribute to marine debris. Flowers and wreaths may be placed at the site only if they are readily decomposable, which rules out plastic flowers and synthetic wreaths.

If an operator answers the first question with some version of "it's all the same rules out there," keep calling.

Sources

Rules change and chart lines are position-specific. Check each source, and confirm your intended location with the EPA Region 10 contact or the relevant Washington agency, before you finalize arrangements.

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