Memorial on a Yacht in San Diego: What the Rules Require Before You Book

Families planning a memorial on a yacht in San Diego usually ask two questions in the same breath: is this legal, and how far out does the boat have to go. The first answer is short. Yes, and the federal government already issued the permit. The second answer is where people get tripped up, because the distance is not measured from the dock you board at, and it is not measured from Point Loma either.

The permit already exists, and you do not apply for it

The EPA has issued a general permit under the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act that authorizes the transport and burial at sea of human remains, both cremated and non-cremated. It is published at 40 CFR 229.1. Three things about it surprise most families:

• There is no application and no advance notice to the EPA.
• There is no fee, not for the permit and not for the report afterward.
• It covers human remains only.

What the permit does require is a notification to the EPA within 30 days after the burial. That is the entire paperwork burden, and it happens after the ceremony, not before it.

Three nautical miles from what, exactly

This is the part worth reading twice. The EPA does not allow placement of human remains in ocean waters within three nautical miles from shore, and it defines shore as the ordinary low water mark or a closing line drawn on nautical charts across the openings of bays and rivers.

San Diego Bay has such an opening. That means the clock does not start when you leave the slip. Everything inside the bay sits inside the closing line, so the transit down the bay contributes nothing toward the three miles. The measurement begins at the line across the bay entrance, and the boat has to be at least three nautical miles seaward of it before anything enters the water.

In practical terms, a San Diego yacht memorial has two halves. Boarding, the run out, the eulogies, the music, the time on deck with family: all of that can happen anywhere, including inside the bay. The release itself has one legal location, and it is offshore.

Ask any operator you are considering to tell you plainly where the release happens relative to that line. It is a fair question and a good operator will answer it without hesitating.

Cremated remains and full-body burials follow different rules

The distance requirement is the same for both. The depth requirement is not.

Cremated remains may be released in ocean waters of any depth, provided the release takes place at least three nautical miles from land.

Non-cremated, full-body burials must take place at least three nautical miles from land and in ocean waters at least 600 feet deep. The EPA sets a deeper 1,800 foot minimum for specific areas off Florida and the Gulf, which does not apply to Southern California, but the 600 foot floor does. All necessary measures must be taken to make sure the remains sink to the bottom rapidly and permanently.

That depth requirement is the reason a full-body burial and an ash scattering are not the same trip. One needs a specific stretch of water. The other needs a distance.

What is allowed to go in the water

Flowers and wreaths are allowed at the burial site as long as they are made of materials that decompose readily in the marine environment. Plastic flowers and synthetic wreaths are not, and the EPA is explicit about the reason: they do not break down and they become marine debris.

Also outside the general permit, per the EPA:

• Tombs, tombstones, gravestones, monuments, mausoleums and artificial reefs, including structures that incorporate cremated remains.
• Pets and other non-human remains. Pet ashes cannot be mixed with cremated human remains and released under this permit.
• Balloons, rockets and similar pyrotechnics used to carry remains, because the device itself is not recovered.
• Burning a boat or a floating funeral pyre.

Ashes may be released inside a container, which matters on a windy afternoon offshore. The container must contain no plastic of any kind, must not float, and must not otherwise contribute to marine debris. Ideally it degrades or dissolves fairly quickly in seawater.

What if the family wants to stay inside the bay

Some families want the ceremony held in calmer water, close to the skyline, without a long run offshore. That is a different legal question, not a smaller version of the same one.

The MPRSA general permit applies to ocean waters. Scattering cremated remains in inland waters, which the EPA lists as including rivers, lakes and bays, is not subject to federal regulation under the MPRSA at all. State law governs instead, potentially alongside the Clean Water Act, and the EPA notes that burial of cremated remains in inland waters is prohibited in some states. States can add their own requirements. What states cannot do is relax the three nautical mile rule for ocean waters or authorize a burial in ocean waters themselves.

So if staying inside San Diego Bay is important to your family, the right call is to contact the state environmental agency, health agency, or mortuary board before you plan around it. Do not assume an operator's willingness to do it settles the question.

The 30-day report

After the burial, the EPA must be notified within 30 days. The report goes to the EPA Region the vessel carrying the remains departed from, and it can be filed through the EPA's online Burial at Sea Reporting Tool. You do not need to submit a death certificate or other documentation to the EPA when you report.

Many charter operators file this on the family's behalf. Many do not. Get the answer in writing before the day of the ceremony, because a missed filing lands on whoever conducted the burial, and no one wants to sort that out three weeks after a funeral.

Five questions to ask before you book a vessel

1. Where does the release happen relative to the closing line across the bay entrance?
2. Who files the EPA report, you or us?
3. For a full-body burial, what water depth do you reach?
4. What are your rules on what we may bring aboard and place in the water?
5. How many guests can the vessel carry, and how long is the charter?

An operator who has done this work will answer all five in a single conversation. If the answers get vague around the first or the third, keep calling.

Where to read the rules yourself

Every requirement above comes from the EPA's Burial at Sea page and the general permit at 40 CFR 229.1. It is worth twenty minutes of your time. Families who have read it tend to ask better questions and get better service.

If you want the wider picture on holding a service aboard a vessel, we covered that separately in Can You Have a Funeral on a Boat? The Rules, Explained. For the container question, see What Kind of Urn Can You Use for a Burial at Sea?