The Bureau of Vital Statistics and Registration of the Division of Management and Administration of the Department of Health and Senior Services (Department) is proposing to readopt N.J.A.C. 8:2A, the rules governing death certificates, without change.  The notice of proposal appears in the December 20, 2010, issue of the New Jersey Register.

The Department is in the process of reviewing N.J.A.C. 8:2A with a view toward the development of rulemaking to revise or replace existing N.J.A.C. 8:2A by establishing rules to address both routine and non-routine matters and situations that present to the Bureau of Vital Statistics either directly or through local registrars of vital statistics.  Policies and procedures addressing some of these matters and situations exist now either as matters of unwritten practice, upon case-by-case review, and/or as a result of decisions of the New Jersey Superior Court in individual cases.  Subject to the foregoing, the Department has determined that N.J.A.C. 8:2A remains necessary, adequate, reasonable, efficient, understandable, and responsive to the purposes for which it was originally promulgated, and the Department proposes to readopt N.J.A.C. 8:2A to maintain the effectiveness of the chapter while it attempts to standardize through rulemaking the practices, decisions, policies, and procedures described above that have yet to be established in rule form.

The public has until February 18, 2011, to comment on the proposal.  Persons wishing to comment on the proposal must submit their comments in writing by regular mail to Ruth Charbonneau, Director, Office of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Office of the Commissioner, NJ Department of Health and Senior Services, P O Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.  Written comments must be postmarked on or before February 18, 2011, which is the close of the 60-day public comment period.  The Department will not accept telefacsimiles or electronic mail messages as official comments on the notice of proposal.

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