Burial at Sea in New York: Which Waters the Federal Permit Actually Covers

A family in Queens or on Long Island planning an ocean farewell usually starts with a picture in mind: the boat leaving from a marina they know, the ceremony somewhere on water they grew up looking at. Then they find out the federal rules do not treat all of that water the same way.

Here is what actually governs a burial at sea in the New York area, and the one distinction that decides everything else.

The federal permit, in plain terms

The EPA has issued a general permit under the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act that authorizes the burial of human remains at sea. It covers both cremated remains and full-body burials. The permit is published in the federal regulations at 40 CFR 229.1.

Three things about it tend to come as a relief:

• There is no application. The EPA does not require paperwork or advance notice before the burial.
• There is no fee. Nothing is payable to the EPA for using the permit or for filing the notice afterward.
• You do not need to send a death certificate to the EPA when you report the burial.

One thing is required. The burial must be reported to the EPA within 30 days after it happens, to the EPA Region the vessel departed from. New York sits in EPA Region 2. The agency runs an online Burial at Sea Reporting Tool for exactly this.

Ocean waters, not the harbor

The permit applies to ocean waters. That phrase is doing a lot of work.

The EPA is explicit that the MPRSA general permit does not reach lakes, rivers or other inland waters. Scattering cremated remains in those is outside federal jurisdiction under the MPRSA and falls to state law instead, and the EPA notes that burial of cremated remains in inland waters is prohibited in some states.

The three-nautical-mile requirement is measured from the ordinary low water mark, or from a closing line drawn on nautical charts across the openings of bays and rivers. That measurement rule tells you how the agency thinks about geography. You do not get to start counting from partway across a bay. The line runs across its mouth.

For a New York departure, that means the Hudson, the East River, the water inside New York Harbor and Jamaica Bay are not places to assume the federal general permit applies. If a family wants a ceremony in any of them, the question to research is a state question, not a federal one. The agencies to ask are the state environmental agency, the state health agency, or the mortuary board.

If you want the federal general permit to be your authority, the vessel has to reach open ocean past the three-mile line.

Cremated remains and full-body burials have different conditions

For cremated remains: ocean waters of any depth, at least three nautical miles from land.

For a full-body burial: at least three nautical miles from land, and ocean waters at least 600 feet deep. The permit names a few areas that require 1,800 feet instead, all of them off Florida and in the Gulf. New York is not among them, so 600 feet is the figure that applies here.

Depth is a separate condition from distance, and it is the one that catches people out. Clearing three miles does not automatically put you over 600 feet of water. Before you book a full-body burial from a New York port, ask the operator to show you on a chart where they intend to conduct the committal and what the charted depth is at that position. An operator who runs these regularly will have the answer ready.

The permit also requires that all necessary measures be taken so the remains sink to the bottom rapidly and permanently. For a casketed burial the EPA points to the U.S. Navy guidance, which involves drilling and banding the casket and weighting it to at least 300 pounds. If no casket is used, the EPA recommends a natural fiber shroud with added weight such as a steel chain.

What can go in the water, and what cannot

Flowers and wreaths are allowed if they are made of materials that decompose readily in the marine environment. Plastic flowers and synthetic wreaths are not. The permit also prohibits placing tombs, tombstones, gravestones, monuments, mausoleums and artificial reefs.

Cremated remains may be placed in a container rather than scattered on the surface, which matters on a windy day in the Atlantic. The container cannot contain plastic of any kind, cannot float, and should break down quickly in seawater.

A few things families ask about that the general permit does not authorize: burning a boat or a floating funeral pyre, releasing remains from a balloon or a rocket, and sinking a monument or reef structure with ashes built into it.

Pets are not covered

The general permit at 40 CFR 229.1 authorizes the burial at sea of human remains only. Pet ashes cannot be buried at sea under it, and they cannot be mixed with a person’s cremated remains to get around that.

Given how many people in the New York area search for this, it is worth saying plainly: if someone offers you a pet burial at sea under the federal permit, they are describing something the permit does not authorize.

Five questions worth asking before you book

• Where will the committal take place, and can you show me the position on a chart?
• How far is that from the closing line, not from the dock?
• For a full-body burial, what is the charted depth at that position?
• Who files the EPA notice within 30 days, and will I get a copy of it?
• What goes in the water besides the remains?

Any operator running these regularly will answer all five without hesitating. An operator who gets vague about the first three is worth a second look.

Where this leaves a New York family

The rules are less restrictive than most people expect and more specific about location than most people expect. No application, no fee, no waiting period, no permission to request. But the water has to be the right water.

If your plan involves the harbor, the rivers or the Sound, you are asking a New York State question, and you want that answer well before the day arrives. If your plan involves the open Atlantic past the three-mile line, the federal general permit already covers you, and the only paperwork is a report filed after the fact.

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Burial at Sea. This article is general information, not legal advice.