Where in the United States is Aquamation Legal or Allowed?
Guest Blog
September 8th 2022 - 9 minute read
Last updated: March 7, 2022
Aquamation— sometimes called water cremation or flameless cremation— is legal or allowable for use on human remains in almost half of U.S. states, with legislation pending in many more. You may see it referenced by its technical name: alkaline hydrolysis.
Learn more about aquamation in this in-depth Q&A article.
See U.S., state-by-state aquamation status below, including Washington D.C.
(For Canada, see this aquamation status table.)
Aqumation technology is allowable for use on pets in all U.S. states (as well as Washington D.C.) and in all Canadian provinces and territories.
| U.S. State | Status | Notes |
| Alabama | Legal | |
| Alaska | Under consideration | |
| Arizona | Law is pending | |
| Arkansas | Not legal | |
| California | Legal | Law passed in July 2020 |
| Colorado | Legal | Colorado legalized alkaline hydrolysis in 2011 when it changed its definition of cremation. |
| Connecticut | Approved | |
| Delaware | Not legal | |
| Florida | Legal | |
| Georgia | Legal | |
| Hawaii | Law is pending | Bill introduced in Feb. 2022 |
| Idaho | Legal | |
| Illinois | Legal | |
| Indiana | Not legal | |
| Iowa | Not legal | |
| Kansas | Legal | |
| Kentucky | Not legal | |
| Louisiana | Not legal | |
| Maine | Legal | Alkaline hydrolysis was legalized in Maine in 2009, when the Maine Attorney General approved a new definition of cremation |
| Maryland | Legal | Maryland legalized alkaline hydrolysis in 2010, when the state explicitly defined cremation to include processes other than heat and flame. |
| Massachusetts | Not legal | |
| Michigan | Available but no law | Alkaline hydrolysis appears to be happening in Michigan, but no statutes or regulations explicitly allow it |
| Minnesota | Legal | In 2003, Minnesota became the first U.S. state to legalize alkaline hydrolysis for humans. |
| Mississippi | Not yet | |
| Missouri | Allowed, no statute | The process is considered a legal method of final disposition because state |
| Montana | Not legal | |
| Nebraska | Not legal | |
| Nevada | Legal | Alkaline hydrolysis was legalized in May 2017 |
| New Hampshire | Not currently legal but was previously legal | Alkaline hydrolysis was legalized briefly in New Hampshire in 2006 but the law was repealed in 2008. A new bill in 2013 failed. One funeral home in Jaffrey, New Hampshire sends human remains to Maine to be legally aquamated. |
| New Jersey | Law pending | |
| New Mexico | Not legal | |
| New York | Law pending | |
| North Carolina | Legal | Law passed October 1, 2018 |
| North Dakota | Not legal | |
| Ohio | Allowable, but no law yet | |
| Oklahoma | Not legal, under consideration | |
| Oregon | Legal | Alkaline hydrolysis became legal in Oregon in 2009, after the state updated its definition of "final disposition" to include the dissolution of human remains |
| Pennsylvania | Law pending | |
| Rhode Island | Not legal | |
| South Carolina | Not legal | |
| South Dakota | Not legal | |
| Tennessee | Not legal | |
| Texas | Not legal, law pending | A house bill outlining regulations has yet to be approved |
| Utah | Legal | Utah passed a bill specifically allowing for alkaline hydrolysis in 2018 |
| Vermont | Legal | Alkaline hydrolysis was legalized in Vermont in 2014 |
| Virginia | Not legal | |
| Washington | Legal | Washington's law allowing alkaline hydrolysis went into effect May 1, 2020 |
| Washington D.C. | Not legal | Available and legal in nearby Maryland |
| West Virginia | Not legal | |
| Wisconsin | Not legal | |
| Wyoming | Legal | In 2014, Wyoming made alkaline hydrolysis allowable when it expanded the state's Funeral Services Practitioners Act to cover "chemical disposition." |
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