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| [ House Amendment 001 ] |
92_HB1825ham002
LRB9202574EGfgam03
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1825
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 1825 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4 "AN ACT in relation to the cremation of companion
5 animals."; and
6 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
7 following:
8 "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
9 Companion Animal Cremation Act.
10 Section 5. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act,
11 unless the context indicates otherwise:
12 "Companion animal" or "animal" means a deceased animal
13 that had a companion or pet relationship with an owner at the
14 time of the animal's death.
15 "Provider of companion animal cremation services" or
16 "provider" means a person, company, or other entity engaging
17 in the business of cremating deceased companion animals in
18 Illinois.
19 "Cremation remains" means the material remaining after
20 the cremation of an animal, which may include ashes, skeletal
21 remains, and other residue resulting from the incineration
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1 process, and may be pulverized or otherwise processed by the
2 provider of cremation services.
3 "Individually partitioned cremation" means a cremation
4 process in which either (i) only one companion animal at a
5 time is cremated in the incinerator or (ii) more than one
6 companion animal is cremated in the incinerator at the same
7 time, but each of the animals is completely separated from
8 the others by partitions during the cremation process; and in
9 which the commingling of significant amounts of cremation
10 remains from different animals is unlikely to occur.
11 "Communal cremation" means a cremation process in which
12 companion animals are cremated together without effective
13 partitions or separation during the cremation process, and in
14 which the commingling of significant amounts of cremation
15 remains from different animals is likely or certain to occur.
16 "Commingling of significant amounts of cremation remains
17 from different animals" means that specific cremation remains
18 cannot be attributed to a particular animal, or that the
19 cremation remains attributed to one companion animal contain
20 more than 1% by weight of cremation remains from one or more
21 other companion animals. The presence, in the cremation
22 remains of a companion animal, of the remains of any creature
23 that was contained within the body of that animal at the time
24 of cremation (including parasites, insects, and food or
25 creatures eaten by that companion animal) does not constitute
26 "commingling" for the purposes of this Act.
27 A person or business entity is deemed to refer animal
28 owners or bring business to a provider "on a regular basis"
29 if the person or entity (i) has an ongoing contractual or
30 agency relationship with the provider relating to the
31 cremation of companion animals, (ii) receives any
32 compensation or consideration from the provider or animal
33 owners relating to the cremation of companion animals by the
34 provider, or (iii) refers or brings to the provider the
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1 business of more than 5 animal owners in an average month.
2 Section 10. Written explanation of services.
3 (a) A provider of companion animal cremation services
4 must prepare a written explanation of the services offered,
5 which may but need not be in the form of a brochure.
6 The written explanation of services must include a
7 detailed explanation of each service offered. For each type
8 or level of cremation service offered, the written
9 explanation of services shall disclose the specific services
10 to be provided.
11 If any part of the deceased companion animal will be
12 removed, used, or sold by the provider before or after the
13 cremation, the written explanation of services must disclose
14 that fact.
15 (b) The written explanation of services must not include
16 any false or misleading information. A written explanation
17 of services is misleading if:
18 (1) it fails to include a detailed explanation of
19 the cremation services offered or fails to include, for
20 each type or level of cremation service offered, any of
21 the disclosures required under subsection (a);
22 (2) it uses the term "private" or "individual" with
23 respect to any communal cremation procedure or with
24 respect to an individually partitioned cremation
25 procedure that will cremate more than one companion
26 animal at the same time;
27 (3) it uses the term "individually partitioned" or
28 "separate" with respect to a communal cremation process;
29 or
30 (4) it includes any text, picture, illustration, or
31 combination thereof, or uses any layout, typography, or
32 color scheme, in a way that is likely to lead a person of
33 normal intelligence to misunderstand the nature of the
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1 services to be provided or to fail to read or understand
2 certain parts of the written explanation of services.
3 (c) A provider of companion animal cremation services
4 shall provide the written explanation of services, without
5 charge:
6 (1) to the owner of each deceased animal with whom
7 the provider agrees to provide cremation services, or the
8 person making cremation arrangements on the owner's
9 behalf;
10 (2) to all veterinarians, pet shops, and other
11 persons or entities known to the provider who refer
12 animal owners or bring deceased animals to the provider
13 on a regular basis, in quantities sufficient for
14 distribution by those persons or entities to the animal
15 owners whose business is being referred or brought to the
16 provider;
17 (3) to the Office of the Attorney General, at least
18 annually; and
19 (4) to any other person upon request.
20 (d) The preparation or distribution by a provider of a
21 written explanation of services that the provider knows or
22 should know to be false or misleading constitutes a business
23 offense, punishable by a fine of at least $1,001 but not more
24 than $1,500 for a first offense and at least $2,000 but not
25 more than $2,500 for each subsequent offense.
26 A knowing failure to prepare or distribute a written
27 explanation of services as required by this Section
28 constitutes a business offense, punishable by a fine of at
29 least $1,001 but not more than $1,500 for a first offense and
30 at least $2,000 but not more than $2,500 for each subsequent
31 offense.
32 Section 15. Persons referring or bringing business to a
33 provider.
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1 (a) A veterinarian, pet shop, or other person or
2 business entity that refers owners of deceased animals, or
3 persons making arrangements on an owner's behalf, to a
4 provider on a regular basis shall make available a copy of
5 the provider's written explanation of services to the animal
6 owner, or person making arrangements on the owner's behalf,
7 at the time of the referral.
8 (b) A veterinarian, pet shop, or other person or
9 business entity that accepts deceased companion animals for
10 cremation through services obtained from a provider on a
11 regular basis shall make available a copy of the provider's
12 written explanation of services to each animal owner, or
13 person making arrangements on the owner's behalf, from whom a
14 deceased companion animal is accepted.
15 (c) It is sufficient for compliance with this Section
16 that a copy of the written explanation of services is given
17 to the animal owner, or the person making arrangements on the
18 owner's behalf, at the time the services are offered.
19 (d) Publishing or otherwise disseminating advertising
20 for a provider of companion animal cremation services does
21 not, in itself, constitute referring or bringing business to
22 that provider for the purposes of this Section.
23 Section 20. Certification; penalty for false
24 certification.
25 (a) Whenever a provider of companion animal cremation
26 services undertakes to provide services that include the
27 return of the cremation remains of the cremated animal, the
28 provider shall include a certification along with the
29 returned cremation remains, declaring to the best of the
30 provider's knowledge and belief that, except as otherwise
31 specifically indicated in the certificate, the cremation and
32 any other services specified were provided in accordance with
33 the representations of the provider in the applicable
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1 portions of the provider's written explanation of services.
2 (b) To knowingly make a false certification under
3 subsection (a) is a business offense, punishable by a fine of
4 at least $1,001 but not more than $1,500 for a first offense
5 and at least $2,000 but not more than $2,500 for each
6 subsequent offense.
7 Section 95. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business
8 Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2KK as follows:
9 (815 ILCS 505/2KK new)
10 Sec. 2KK. Animal cremation services. It is an unlawful
11 practice within the meaning of this Act for a provider of
12 companion animal cremation services (1) to fail to prepare or
13 distribute a written explanation of services as required by
14 the Companion Animal Cremation Act; (2) to prepare or
15 distribute a written explanation of services under that Act
16 that the provider knows or should know to be false or
17 misleading; or (3) to knowingly make a false certification
18 under Section 20 of that Act.".