The petitioner requests that the Board of Funeral Directors & Embalmers amend 18VAC65-20-580 to exempt certain religious funeral homes that do not practice embalming from the requirement to equip preparation rooms with the instruments and apparatus of embalming under 18VAC65-20-580(6).

The petition for rulemaking will be published in the Virginia Register of Regulations on October 7, 2024. The petition will also be published on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall at www.townhall.virginia.gov to receive public comment, which will open on October 7, 2024 and will close on November 6, 2024. The Board will consider the petition and all comments in support or opposition at the next meeting after the close of public comment, currently scheduled for January 14, 2025. The petitioner will be notified of the Board’s decision after that meeting.

At its January 14^th, 2025 meeting, the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers voted to take no action on the petition for rulemaking and send the issue to the regulatory committee for in-depth review and consideration of all possible changes that would need to occur to address this concern.