Nov. 26 (UPI) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is offering environmentally friendly burial sections in three national cemeteries for U.S. military veterans.
The “green burial sections” are available at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix, Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell and Pikes Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The VA’s National Cemetery Administration is in charge of the pilot program that might expand to more national cemeteries for veterans and will collect information about customer expectations, communications and operational procedures.
“NCA is pleased to begin offering this new option to veterans and their family members eligible for internment in a VA national cemetery,” said Ronald Walters, acting under secretary for memorial affairs, in a news release Tuesday.
“This pilot reflects our commitment to understand and address the emerging burial preferences of veterans and their loved ones,” Walters said.
The NCA will accept cremated remains and some intact remains of veterans for interment in green burial sections without using chemicals or embalming fluids.
The NCA will use biodegradable coffins or urns or a securely wrapped and biodegradable shroud to bury the cremated and non-cremated remains of veterans in the green burial sections.
The National Cemeteries Preservation and Protection Act of 2022 gave the VA the authority to create green burial sections in national cemeteries to enable more environmentally friendly and sustainable burial options.
More information on VA burial benefits is available online, by calling 800-827-1000 or visiting a VA national cemetery.
The VA also recently created a Veterans Legacy Memorial online database that includes the names of more than 300,000 veterans and official and user-generated information about many of the millions of U.S. military veterans who are buried at 27 VA-administered military cemeteries.