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Read. Follow. Verify.Indiana Senate Bill 22 expands legal definition of cremation to include alkaline hydrolysis and sets facility regulations
Last action · December 8, 2025: First reading: referred to Committee on Public PolicySponsor: Brett Clark
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What This Bill Proposed
Expands the definition of "cremation" to include alkaline hydrolysis as a means for the dissolution of human remains. Requires the state board of funeral and cemetery service to adopt rules governing the operation of alkaline hydrolysis facilities. Adds alkaline hydrolysis to statutes that allow for burial or cremation. Specifies that a person may request alkaline hydrolysis in statutes that allow for burial or cremation.
The measure establishes legal standards for an alternative method of human remains dissolution, impacting funeral service providers, state regulatory agencies, and residents seeking alternative disposition options.
- Alkaline hydrolysis, sometimes referred to as water cremation or resomation, uses water and alkaline chemicals under heat and pressure as an alternative to flame-based cremation. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Crematory authorities
Crematory authorities must comply with new operational rules, container standards, and wastewater regulations when performing alkaline hydrolysis.
State board of funeral and cemetery service
The board is required to adopt administrative rules governing alkaline hydrolysis facilities and equipment by July 1, 2026.
Funeral directors
Licensed funeral directors must supervise alkaline hydrolysis processes under the newly established chapter.
Key Facts
- Expands the legal definition of cremation to include alkaline hydrolysis, defined as the dissolution of human remains using water, heat, and potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, or a combination.
- Requires the state board of funeral and cemetery service to adopt rules governing alkaline hydrolysis facilities, chambers, pulverizing, transportation equipment, and disposition of remains by July 1, 2026.
- Prohibits crematory authorities from requiring a casket for alkaline hydrolysis or refusing unembalmed remains due to a lack of embalming.
- Mandates that crematory authorities manage all hydrolyzed effluent in accordance with applicable wastewater regulations.
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- Provides that uncontained human remains delivered for alkaline hydrolysis must be in a leak-resistant, consumable alternative container or single-use pouch.
- Amends numerous sections of the Indiana Code to integrate alkaline hydrolysis references into existing statutes governing burial, cremation, funeral services, and anatomical gifts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is alkaline hydrolysis?
Are caskets required for alkaline hydrolysis under this bill?
What happens to the liquid resulting from the process?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Dec 8, 2025SenateIntroducedFirst reading: referred to Committee on Public Policy
- Dec 8, 2025SenateAuthored by Senator Clark
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Disposition Methods
The legislation marks a formal statutory shift by equating alkaline hydrolysis with traditional incineration across multiple titles of the Indiana Code.
Connected Entities
Sources
iga.in.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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