wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2239 > Substitute Bill
It is the intent of the legislature to enable creation of family burial grounds on privately owned property in order to provide greater flexibility and options for individuals in choosing where to be interred.
It is further the intent of the legislature to honor and support individual and family connectivity with the land.
A natural person may designate an area of land owned by the person as a family burial ground.
If a property is co-owned by two or more natural persons, a family burial ground may be established on the property only with the written consent of all co-owners of the property.
A family burial ground may not be established on any property co-owned by a combination of natural persons and legal entities.
A family burial ground must be set back at least 25 feet from an existing parcel boundary and may not be established:
Within 150 feet of a designated critical area, as defined in RCW 36.70A.030;
Within 50 feet of the property line of a public right-of-way or boundary of an easement; or
Within 100 feet of an existing well source used for drinking water or 200 feet of an existing spring source used for drinking water.
A family burial ground may not comprise greater than 10 percent of the area of the parcel upon which it is established.
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A mausoleum, columbarium, or similar structure constructed on a family burial ground and used or intended to be used for interments of human remains must comply with the requirements of this section, whether constructed under or above the surface of the earth, where any portion of the building is exposed to view, or, when interment is completed, is less than three feet below the surface of the earth and covered by earth.
A building on a family burial ground not erected for or not used as a place for interment of human remains which is converted or altered to such use is subject to this section.
A building or structure constructed on a family burial ground and intended to be used for interment of human remains:
Must be of class A fireproof construction and constructed with such material and workmanship as to ensure its durability and permanence as dictated and determined by most current mausoleum construction and engineering science; and
Must be constructed and installed on the family burial ground in compliance with all applicable local building permitting laws, public health laws, and laws governing class A construction.
Any person who violates this section commits a civil infraction enforceable according to chapter 7.80 RCW and is subject to a monetary penalty of $500. A notice of civil infraction may be issued by a local law enforcement officer or a local public health official if after investigation it has reasonable cause to believe an infraction has been committed. Cities, towns, and counties shall prescribe local procedures to ensure the owner of the property on which the burial ground is located remediates any violation of this section at the owner's expense.
The owner of the property on which a family burial ground is located may not:
Offer for sale plots in the family burial ground or space in a mausoleum or columbarium located on the family burial ground; or
Charge fees for any goods or services provided by the owner in connection with interment of human remains in the family burial ground.
The deceased person's name as it appears on the death certificate;
The deceased person's date of birth as it appears on the death certificate;
The deceased person's date of death as it appears on the death certificate;
The name of the owner or owners and the legal description of the property, including the assessor parcel number, where the human remains are interred; and
The latitude and longitude coordinates of the grave, mausoleum, or columbarium, such as those given by a global positioning system, that are verified by two witnesses or the county coroner, sheriff, or a designee of the county coroner or sheriff.
Before the sale of the property on which a family burial ground is located, the owner of the property shall disclose to the prospective buyer the existence of the family burial ground and any mausoleums or columbaria erected on the family burial ground.
An area of privately owned land that has been established as a family burial ground or plot prior to the effective date of this section is deemed a family burial ground designated in compliance with this chapter, even if the previously established family burial ground or plot does not meet all the requirements under this chapter.
Beginning on the effective date of this section:
Any new designation of a family burial ground on a property that does not already contain a family burial ground must comply with all the requirements of this chapter; and
Any interment of human remains in a family burial ground on a property that already contains a family burial ground and any extension of an existing family burial ground must comply with all the requirements of this chapter, regardless of when a family burial ground was established or designated.
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The owner of the property on which a family burial ground is located may relocate human remains from the family burial ground with the written consent of one of the following surviving family members, in the order named:
The surviving spouse or state registered domestic partner of the decedent;
The surviving children of the decedent;
The surviving parents of the decedent; or
The surviving siblings of the decedent.
The surviving family member who gives consent to relocate human remains from the family burial ground has the right to designate another lawful place for disposition of human remains in which the relocated human remains will be reinterred.
If the property owner is unable to obtain the required consent from any surviving family member specified in subsection (1) of this section:
The property owner may petition the superior court of the county in which the family burial ground is situated for an order authorizing the relocation of human remains from the family burial ground; and
The property owner has the right to designate another lawful place for disposition of human remains in which the relocated human remains will be reinterred. In designating a place to reinter the remains, the property owner shall make all reasonable efforts to consult with any surviving family members of the person whose remains will be relocated from the family burial ground.
Upon obtaining the required consent or court authorization, the owner of the property must notify the Washington state department of archaeology and historic preservation and obtain a permit from the department to disinter the human remains from the family burial ground and to reinter the human remains in another lawful place for disposition of human remains.
The owner of the property on which a family burial ground is located is responsible for all costs associated with disinterring human remains from the family burial ground and reinterring the remains in another lawful place for disposition of human remains.
Cities and counties are authorized to enact ordinances regulating or prohibiting the establishment of family burial grounds or the extension of existing family burial grounds and to give power to local planning commissions to pass upon and make recommendations to local legislative bodies concerning the establishment or extension of family burial grounds.
A person found to have committed a civil infraction shall be assessed a monetary penalty.
The maximum penalty and the default amount for a class 1 civil infraction shall be $250, not including statutory assessments, except for an infraction of state law involving (i) potentially dangerous litter as specified in RCW 70A.200.060(5), in which case the maximum penalty and default amount is $500; (ii) a person's refusal to submit to a test or tests pursuant to RCW 79A.60.040 and 79A.60.700, in which case the maximum penalty and default amount is $1,000; (iii) the misrepresentation of service animals under RCW 49.60.214, in which case the maximum penalty and default amount is $500; (iv) untraceable firearms pursuant to RCW 9.41.326 or unfinished frames or receivers pursuant to RCW 9.41.327, in which case the maximum penalty and default amount is $500; (v) the failure to report the loss or theft of a firearm under RCW 9.41.368, in which case the maximum penalty and default amount is $1,000; or (vi) unlawful construction of a mausoleum or columbarium on a family burial ground, as provided in section 3 of this act, in which case the penalty is $500;
The maximum penalty and the default amount for a class 2 civil infraction shall be $125, not including statutory assessments;
The maximum penalty and the default amount for a class 3 civil infraction shall be $50, not including statutory assessments; and
The maximum penalty and the default amount for a class 4 civil infraction shall be $25, not including statutory assessments.
The supreme court shall prescribe by rule the conditions under which local courts may exercise discretion in assessing fines for civil infractions.
Whenever a monetary penalty is imposed by a court under this chapter it is immediately payable. If the person is unable to pay at that time the court may grant an extension of the period in which the penalty may be paid. If the penalty is not paid on or before the time established for payment, the court may proceed to collect the penalty in the same manner as other civil judgments and may notify the prosecuting authority of the failure to pay.
The court may also order a person found to have committed a civil infraction to make restitution.
"Mausoleum" means a structure or building for the entombment of human remains in crypts (1) in a place used, or intended to be used, and dedicated, for cemetery purposes, or (2) on a family burial ground established pursuant to chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act).
"Columbarium" means a structure, room, or other space in a building or structure containing niches for permanent placement of human remains (1) in a place used, or intended to be used, and dedicated, for cemetery purposes, or (2) on a family burial ground established pursuant to chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act).
"Interment" means the placement of human remains in a cemetery or family burial ground.
"Family burial ground" means an area of privately owned land that is designated pursuant to chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act) for the interment of human remains, and in which interments may be, but are not required to be, restricted to a group of persons who are related to each other by birth, marriage, or adoption. "Family burial ground" includes any mausoleums or columbaria constructed on a family burial ground.
The provisions of this chapter do not apply to any of the following:
Nonprofit cemeteries which are owned or operated by any recognized religious denomination which qualifies for an exemption from real estate taxation under RCW 84.36.020 on any of its churches or the ground upon which any of its churches are or will be built;
Any cemetery controlled and operated by a coroner, county, city, town, or cemetery district; or
A family burial ground established pursuant to chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act).
Except as otherwise provided in chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act), it is unlawful for any corporation, copartnership, firm, trust, association, or individual to engage in or transact any of the businesses of a cemetery within this state except by means of a corporation duly organized for that purpose.
This chapter does not apply to any cemetery controlled and operated by a coroner, county, city, town, or cemetery district.
This chapter does not apply to any family burial ground established pursuant to chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act).
This chapter does not apply to mausoleums and columbaria constructed on a family burial ground established pursuant to chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act).
Every person who performs a disposition of any human remains, except as otherwise provided by law, in any place, except in a cemetery, a family burial ground, or a building dedicated exclusively for religious purposes, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Disposition of human remains following cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction may also occur on private property, with the consent of the property owner; and on public or government lands or waters with the approval of the government agency that has either jurisdiction or control, or both, of the lands or waters.
The following real and personal property shall be exempt from taxation:
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All lands, buildings, and personal property required for necessary administration and maintenance, used, or to the extent used, exclusively for public burying grounds or cemeteries without discrimination as to race, color, national origin or ancestry;
The exemption provided by this subsection (1) does not apply to family burial grounds established pursuant to chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act);
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All churches, personal property, and the ground, not exceeding five acres in area, upon which a church of any nonprofit recognized religious denomination is or must be built, together with a parsonage, convent, and buildings and improvements required for the maintenance and safeguarding of such property. The area exempted must in any case include all ground covered by the church, parsonage, convent, and buildings and improvements required for the maintenance and safeguarding of such property and the structures and ground necessary for street access, parking, light, and ventilation, but the area of unoccupied ground exempted in such cases, in connection with church, parsonage, convent, and buildings and improvements required for the maintenance and safeguarding of such property, shall not exceed the equivalent of one hundred twenty by one hundred twenty feet except where additional unoccupied land may be required to conform with state or local codes, zoning, or licensing requirements. The parsonage and convent need not be on land contiguous to the church property. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, to be exempt the property must be wholly used for church purposes.
If the rental income or donations, if applicable, are reasonable and do not exceed the maintenance and operation expenses attributable to the portion of the property loaned or rented, the exemption provided by this subsection (2) is not nullified by:
The loan or rental of property otherwise exempt under this subsection (2) to a nonprofit organization, association, or corporation, or school to conduct an eleemosynary activity;
The rental or use of the property by any individual, group, or entity, where such rental or use is not otherwise authorized by this subsection (2), for not more than fifty days in each calendar year, and the property is not used for pecuniary gain or to promote business activities for more than fifteen of the fifty days in each calendar year. The fifty and fifteen-day limitations provided in this subsection (2)(b)(ii) do not include days during which setup and takedown activities take place immediately preceding or following a meeting or other event by an individual, group, or entity using the property as provided in this subsection (2)(b)(ii). The 15-day and 50-day limitations provided in this subsection (2)(b)(ii) do not apply to the use of the property for pecuniary gain or for business activities if the property is used for activities related to a qualifying farmers market, as defined in RCW 66.24.170, and all income received from rental or use of the exempt property is used for capital improvements to the exempt property, maintenance and operation of the exempt property, or exempt purposes. The exempt property may be used for up to 53 days for the purposes of a qualifying farmers market; or
An inadvertent use of the property in a manner inconsistent with the purpose for which exemption is granted, if the inadvertent use is not part of a pattern of use. A pattern of use is presumed when an inadvertent use is repeated in the same assessment year or in two or more successive assessment years.
(1) In a transaction for the sale of improved residential real property, the seller shall, unless the buyer has expressly waived the right to receive the disclosure statement under RCW 64.06.010, or unless the transfer is otherwise exempt under RCW 64.06.010, deliver to the buyer a completed seller disclosure statement in the following format and that contains, at a minimum, the following information:
The Washington state department of archaeology and historic preservation shall by rule develop procedures for issuing to a property owner a permit to disinter human remains from a family burial ground established under chapter 68.--- RCW (the new chapter created in section 23 of this act) and reinter the remains in another lawful place for disposition of human remains.
Section 21 of this act takes effect January 1, 2027.