LEGISLATION COULD EASE RULES FOR SCATTERING CREMAINS.

Byline: Denise Levin Associated Press 

Cremated remains could be scattered just about anywhere in California under legislation proposed in the wake of a scandal involving the stockpiled ashes of more than 5,000 people.

The bill would allow survivors to dispose of their loved ones in a ``meaningful and respected way,'' said Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Martinez, who sponsored the measure.

``Tens of thousands of Californians are right now violating the law not knowing what the law is,'' Torlakson said Friday. ``And others are knowingly violating the law because it is so important for them to connect a loved one to a special place in their life and in their family history.''

The legislation would allow the scattering of ashes - or cremains - on land anywhere in the state as long as the landowner permits it. Ashes also could be scattered at sea 1,500 feet from shore. Current law bars scattering within three miles of shore.

In addition, funeral directors would be required to disclose all economic options to customers, and firms that scatter ashes would have to keep additional registration information on file with the state.

California is the only state that regulates the scattering of human remains. About 41 percent of the dead in the state are cremated - twice the national average, according to the Cremation Association of North America.

Lawmakers held news conferences on a pier in Santa Monica and the shore of San Francisco Bay to promote the measure Friday after its introduction in Sacramento.

The legislation was prompted by last year's discovery in Contra Costa County of the stockpiled cremated remains of 5,067 people. Allan Vieira, who was supposed to scatter the ashes from his plane, killed himself after the discovery.

One of the boxes found in storage was filled with the remains of Hazel Marie Andrews. The 89-year-old died in 1993 and, as far as her family knew, her remains were scattered over the Pacific Ocean just off the Golden Gate.

Andrews' granddaughter, Joan Pivarnik, said she felt betrayed by the funeral home because it never did a background check on Vieira's operation.

``When this all came about, all the sudden I lived through her death a second time,'' Pivarnik said. ``It's like being emotionally raped.''

A similar incident occurred 15 years ago, prompting the Legislature to enact the current law barring the scattering of cremains on any land. During that scandal, B.J. Elkins buried the remains of hundreds of people on his ranch instead of scattering them at sea, as he was hired to do.

``The Legislature, in my opinion, overreacted in forbidding any land disposition,'' Torlakson said.