New York Consolidated Laws, Public Health Law - PBH § 460. Definitions

1. “Commissioner” shall mean the commissioner of health.

2. “Body piercing” shall mean the piercing of any part of the body, except the ear.  Such term shall not include tongue-splitting, as defined in section four hundred seventy of this chapter.

3. “Tattoo” shall mean a mark on the body of a person made with indelible ink or pigments injected beneath the outer layer of the skin.

4. “Body piercing specialist” shall mean any person who performs body piercing on the body of any other person.

5. “Tattooist” shall mean any person who applies a tattoo to the body of any other person.

6. “Body piercing studio” shall mean any premises in which the body piercing specialist conducts such practice.

7. “Tattoo studio” shall mean any premises in which the tattooist conducts such practice.

8. “Officer” shall mean the public official with primary responsibility for the enforcement of the state sanitary code within a county, or within a city with a population of one million or more persons.  For purposes of this title an officer shall have the powers of a presiding officer under the state administrative procedure act within a county and shall have the powers of a presiding officer under the city administrative procedures act within a city with a population of one million or more persons.

9. “Department” shall mean the department of health.

10. “Approved ink handling procedure” shall mean tattoo ink storage and use procedures that are approved and deemed protective by the department.

11. “Single use needle” shall mean a needle that is sterile and that has never been used on another person.