Except as otherwise provided by law, or in case of a dead body being rightfully carried through or removed from the State for the purpose of burial or disposition elsewhere, every dead body of a human being dying within the State and the remains of any body after dissection therein must be decently buried, entombed in a mausoleum, vault or tomb, cremated or subjected to natural organic reduction within a reasonable time after death. The permanent disposition of such bodies or remains must be by interment in the earth, or deposit in a chamber, vault or tomb of a cemetery owned, maintained and operated in accordance with the laws of this State, by deposit in a crypt of a mausoleum or by cremation or natural organic reduction. The remains of a human body after cremation or natural organic reduction may be deposited in a niche of a columbarium or a crypt of a mausoleum, scattered in an area of a cemetery, buried or disposed of in any manner not contrary to law. A deposit of the bodies or remains of the human dead may not be made in a single chamber, vault or tomb partly above and partly below the natural surface of the ground, unless the part thereof below such surface is of a permanent character, constructed of materials capable of withstanding extreme climatic conditions, waterproof and airtight, and capable of being sealed permanently to prevent all escape of effluvia, and unless the part thereof above the natural surface of the ground is constructed of natural stone of a standard not less than that required by the United States Government for monuments erected in national cemeteries, or durability sufficient to withstand all conditions of weather.   [PL 2023, c. 676, §2 (AMD).]