Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules  
Administrative Rules Division (ARD)  
MOAHR-Rules@michigan.gov  
REQUEST FOR RULEMAKING (RFR)  
1. Department:  
Licensing and Regulatory Affairs  
2. Bureau:  
Corporations, Securities, & Commercial Licensing  
3. Promulgation type:  
Full Process  
4. Title of proposed rule set:  
Mortuary Science  
5. Rule numbers or rule set range of numbers:  
R 339.18901 – R 339.18947  
6. Estimated time frame:  
12 months  
Name of person filling out RFR:  
Mitchell Page  
Email of person filling out RFR:  
PageM6@michigan.gov  
Phone number of person filling out RFR:  
517-241-6659  
Address of person filling out RFR:  
2407 N Grand River Ave, Lansing, MI 48906  
7. Describe the general purpose of these rules, including any problems the changes are intended  
to address.  
The proposed rules will provide a regulatory structure to implement and enforce new continuing  
education requirements. They will establish and clarify standards of conduct for the mortuary science  
industry, set minimum requirements for physical funeral establishments, and clarify how licensees  
should care for and store dead human bodies and cremated remains.  
8. Please cite the specific promulgation authority for the rules (i.e., department director,  
commission, board, etc.).  
Section 205 of the Occupational Code (“Code”), MCL 339.205, requires the department to promulgate  
rules that enable it to fulfill its role under Article 18 of the code and implement articles 1 to 6 of the  
code.  
Section 307(2) of the Code, MCL 339.307(2), indicates that the Board of Examiners in Mortuary  
Science may assist the department in the implementation of the Code.  
Section 308(1) of the Code, MCL 339.308(1), requires the Board to promulgate rules that are  
necessary and appropriate to fulfill its role, as outlined in article 3 of the Code.  
Section 308(2) of the Code, MCL 339.308(2), indicates that the Board may promulgate rules to set  
the minimal standards of practice for the occupation of mortuary science.  
Section 1810(2) of the Code, MCL 339.1810(2), requires the department, in consultation with director  
of public health, to promulgate rules to prescribe training standards for licensees and nonlicensees  
that handle medical waste in a funeral establishment.  
MCL 24.239  
RFR-Page 2  
A. Please list all applicable statutory references (MCLs, Executive Orders, etc.).  
MCL 339.205; MCL 339.307; MCL 339.308; MCL 339.1806b; MCL 339.1810(2); 339.1810(3)  
and Executive Reorganization Order Nos. 1996-2, 2003-1, 2008-4, and 2011-4, MCL 445.2001,  
445.2011, 445.2025, and 445.2030.  
B. Are the rules mandated by any applicable constitutional or statutory provision? If so,  
please explain.  
MCL 339.1806b, as amended by 265 PA 2020, sets a new requirement of four hours of  
continuing education courses that a license holder must complete each year of a two-year  
license renewal cycle, beginning October 31, 2025. Under MCL 339.1806b(2)(b), the  
department must determine the eligibility of a proposed continuing education course.  
MCL 339.1810(2) requires that for licensees and nonlicensees that handle medical waste in a  
funeral establishment, rules must be promulgated to prescribe training standards which a  
licensee who owns or operates a funeral establishment must train them on, consistent with  
MCL 339.1810(3).  
MCL 339.205 requires the department to promulgate rules to implement articles 1 to 6 of the  
Occupational Code, and to enable the department to fulfill its role under the act.  
MCL 339.308 requires a board to promulgate rules to fulfill its role, and that it may promulgate  
rules to set minimal standards of acceptable practice for the occupation for which the board is  
created.  
9. Please describe the extent to which the rules conflict with or duplicate similar rules,  
compliance requirements, or other standards adopted at the state, regional, or federal level.  
The rules do not conflict or duplicate similar rules, compliance requirements, or other standards on  
the state, regional, or federal level. As to state regulations, these rules neither exceed nor conflict with  
the requirements laid out in Article 18 of the Occupational Code, MCL 339.1801 through 339.1812, or  
Part 138 of the Public Health Code, MCL 333.13801 through 333.13832; As to federal regulations,  
the Federal Trade Commission’s Trade Regulation Rule Concerning Funeral Industry Practices  
(“Funeral Rule”) does not conflict with these rules.  
10. Is the subject matter of the rules currently contained in any guideline, handbook, manual,  
instructional bulletin, form with instructions, or operational memoranda?  
Yes. The department’s website for the Board of Examiners in Mortuary Science  
(www.mi.gov/mortuaryscience), features under the header, “Quick Links”, links and instructions to  
obtain, renew, and verify a license and links to relevant statutes and existing rules. The link to obtain  
a license is labelled “MiCLEAR – Licensing – Apply/Renew”. To verify a license, there is a link  
labelled “Verify a License”. The administrative rules and statutes applicable to mortuary science may  
be viewed by clicking the following links: “Administrative Rules”, “Article 1-6 of the Occupational  
Code”, “Article 18”, “Occupational Code – Disciplinary Proceedings”, and “Occupational Code –  
Renewals”. Under the header “Spotlight”, there are additional links to review related materials to the  
subject matter of the rules.  
11. Are the rules listed on the department’s annual regulatory plan as rules to be processed for  
the current year?  
Yes.  
12. Will the proposed rules be promulgated under Section 44 of the administrative procedures act  
of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.244, or under the full rulemaking process?  
Full Process  
13. Please describe the extent to which the rules exceed similar regulations, compliance  
requirements, or other standards adopted at the state, regional, or federal level.  
The rules will not exceed similar regulations. Many of the new rules aim to bring Michigan’s regulation  
of mortuary science licensees more into line with other states in the Great Lakes region. Specifically,  
the continuing education requirements of Ohio’s State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors  
informed the decisions the department and Board made in drafting new continuing education  
requirements for licensees in Michigan. Similarly, the standards of conduct required of mortuary  
MCL 24.239  
RFR-Page 3  
science licensees in Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin were reviewed by the department and Board in  
drafting new standards of conduct and minimum requirements for physical funeral establishments.  
14. Do the rules incorporate the recommendations received from the public regarding any  
complaints or comments regarding the rules? If yes, please explain.  
The proposed rules were written in consultation with a subcommittee of the Board of Examiners in  
Mortuary Science, whose members are non-department representatives of the occupation and the  
general public. The full Board was also offered the opportunity to offer comments and questions to  
the subcommittee following review of the proposed rules. In addition to relying on their subject matter  
expertise, the momentum to draft these proposed rules emerged after discussions during regularly  
scheduled public Board meetings and were further informed by citizen complaints received by the  
department since the rules were last evaluated. In addition to relying on their subject matter expertise,  
the momentum to draft these proposed rules emerged after discussions during regularly scheduled  
public Board meeting and were further informed by citizen complaints received by the department and  
the results of the enforcement actions resulting from the investigation of those complaints since the  
rules were last evaluated. The proposed rules reflect the subject matter expertise of professional  
mortuary science members of the Board concerning minimum requirements for licensure and resident  
trainees, the recommendations received by those Board members to ensure that the new continuing  
education requirements are feasible for mortuary science licensees to locate and complete and for  
providers to seek department approval to offer and address issues discovered through the  
investigation of citizen complaints over the course of many years beginning in 2015 during the  
investigation of Swanson’s Funeral Home, Inc. in Flint.  
15. If amending an existing rule set, please provide the date of the last evaluation of the rules and  
the degree, if any, to which technology, economic conditions, or other factors have changed  
the regulatory activity covered by the rules since the last evaluation.  
The last full evaluation of the rules was in 2014. Since then, statutory requirements were updated in  
2021 to clarify the role of the appointed manager of a funeral establishment, to allow for the waiver of  
the one manager to one funeral establishment requirement. The statutory requirements were further  
updated to require that individual mortuary science licensees complete continuing education  
beginning on October 31, 2025.  
Technology, economic conditions, or other factors that have changed the regulatory activity covered  
by the rules since the last evaluation include: a continued rise in the number of cremations compared  
to burials; a growing movement towards green burial options and alternatives to burial, such as  
alkaline hydrolysis; and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in changes for the industry,  
such as the MDHHS Epidemic Order under MCL 333.2253.  
16. Are there any changes or developments since implementation that demonstrate there is no  
continued need for the rules, or any portion of the rules?  
There have been no changes or developments that demonstrate that there is no longer a continued  
need for the rules.  
17. Is there an applicable decision record (as defined in MCL 24.203(6) and required by MCL  
24.239(2))? If so, please attach the decision record.  
No  
Based on the information provided in this RFR, MOAHR concludes that there are sufficient policy and legal  
bases for approving the RFR. The RFR satisfies the requirements of the administrative procedures act of  
1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, and Executive Reorganization Order No. 2019-1, MCL 324.99923.  
MCL 24.239  
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