§ 5319. Disposition of remains of dead
(a)(1) The permanent disposition of human remains shall be by:
(A) interment in the earth;
(B) deposit in a chamber, vault, or tomb formed wholly or partly above the surface of
the ground of a cemetery conducted and maintained pursuant to the laws of the State;
(C) deposit in a crypt of a mausoleum;
(D) cremation; or
(E) natural organic reduction.
(2) However, this shall not be construed to prevent a private individual from setting
aside a portion of the private individual’s premises owned in fee by the private individual
and using the premises as a burial space for the members of the private individual’s
immediate family, provided the private individual’s use for such purpose is not in
violation of the health laws and rules of the State and the town in which the land
is situated.
(b)(1) Interment of any human body in the earth shall not be made unless the distance from
the bottom of the outside coffin or body shall be at least three and one-half feet
below the natural surface of the ground. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed
to prohibit the interment of a human body at a depth greater than three and one-half
feet below the surface of the ground.
(2) The burial boundaries of a new or expanded cemetery shall be located:
(A) not less than 200 feet up gradient of a drilled bedrock well or a drilled well in
a confined aquifer that is part of an exempt or permitted potable water supply or
a transient noncommunity public water system source;
(B) not less than 500 feet up gradient from any other groundwater source that is part
of an exempt or permitted potable water supply or a transient noncommunity public
water system;
(C) not less than 150 feet cross or down gradient from any groundwater source that is
part of an exempt or permitted potable water supply or transient noncommunity public
water system;
(D) outside zone one or two of the source protection area for an existing or permitted
public community water system;
(E) outside the source protection area for an existing or permitted nontransient, noncommunity
public water system;
(F) outside a river corridor as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 1422 and delineated by the Agency of Natural Resources; and
(G) outside a flood hazard area as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 752, and delineated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Flood Insurance
Program.
(c) With the exception of human remains processed by natural organic reduction, the permanent
disposition of human remains shall not be made in a single chamber, vault, or tomb
wholly or partly above the surface of the ground unless the part thereof below the
natural surface of the ground be of a permanent character, constructed of materials
capable of withstanding extreme climatic conditions, be waterproof and air tight,
and can be sealed permanently so as to prevent all escape of effluvia. That portion
of the same above the natural surface of the ground shall be constructed of natural
stone of a standard not less than that required by the U.S. government for monuments
erected in national cemeteries, of durability sufficient to withstand all conditions
of weather, and of a character to ensure its permanence.
(d) The remains of a human body after cremation or natural organic reduction may be deposited
in a niche of a columbarium or a crypt of a mausoleum, buried, or disposed of in any
manner not contrary to law. (Amended 2015, No. 24, § 2; 2017, No. 19, § 1; 2021, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), § 11, eff. January 1, 2023; 2023, No. 6, § 172, eff. July 1, 2023.)