CHAPTER 8 - WHAT FEES ARE REQUIRED FOR REGISTRATION MAINTENANCE, REREGISTRATION AND TOLERANCE PETITION ACTIVITIES A. GENERAL INFORMATION The 1988 amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) require that annual maintenance fees be paid by registrants for a period of 9 years beginning March 1, 1989, of pesticide products registered under Section 3 or 24(c) of FIFRA, and provide for the collection of a fee for the reregistration of pesticides. In addition, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) provides for fees for the processing and review of tolerance petitions. These fees are discussed in more detail below. IMPORTANT NOTE: Fees are not required for: - Registering a product with a new active ingredient. - Registering a new use of a previously registered active ingredient. - Registering a product substantially similar or identical to a previously registered active ingredient. - Amending a registered product label. - Obtaining an Experimental Use Permit. B. ANNUAL REGISTRATION MAINTENANCE FEES Section 4(i)(5) of FIFRA requires each registrant of pesticide products to pay an annual registration maintenance fee based on the number of registrations held. The current fee (January 15, 1992) is $650 for the first registration held by any registrant and $1300 for each subsequent registration. The maximum fee for registrants holding 50 or fewer registrations is $55,000, except for small businesses for which it is $38,500. The maximum fee for registrants holding more than 50 registrations is $95,000, except for small businesses1 for which it is $66,500. Registrations for which the fee is not paid by January 15, 1992, will be canceled, by order and without a hearing. If you do not pay the fee to keep a registration in effect, you will be permitted until January 15, 1993, to dispose of existing stocks of the pesticide, except in special circumstances when less time may be granted. You will be billed by the Agency at the beginning of each calendar year. If you need assistance in interpreting the instructions for filing your maintenance fee, you can get help from our toll-free maintenance fee information line at 1-800-444-7255. IMPORTANT NOTE: 1) FIFRA was amended by a 1991 amendment to the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act which changed the due date for paying the maintenance fee from March 1 to January 15 each year. 2) You should also be aware that the annual maintenance fee may be increased each year as appropriate. 3) In general, there are no provisions for any waiver or refund of registration maintenance fees. However, the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 did amend FIFRA to allow the Administrator to reduce or waive maintenance fees for minor agricultural use registrations, when he determines that the fee would be likely to cause significant impact on the availability of the pesticide for the use. This determination will be made only after all the 1992 maintenance fee responses have been received. If at that time the Agency determines that product cancellation resulting from nonpayment of the fee would significantly impact the availability of a particular pesticide for a specific minor agricultural use, the Agency will defer cancellation of the registrations in question, and will provide affected registrants the opportunity to maintain these registrations by paying a reduced maintenance fee. 4) Registrations under section 24(c) of FIFRA are deemed registration under section 3 of FIFRA and thus are subject to this fee requirement. 5) The maintenance fee requirement does not apply to supplemental registrations of distributors. Such supplemental registrations are identified by a three-element registration number in which your EPA Company Number is the third element. C. REREGISTRATION FEES Section 4(i)(1-4) of FIFRA states that registrants of pesticides shall collectively pay a fee for the reregistration of an active ingredient. These fees vary considerably and are based on among other things, whether the pesticide is an active ingredient of any pesticide registered for a major food or feed use, or is registered only for non-food or non-feed uses. Provisions are made for the reduction or a waiver of fees for minor use and other pesticides and for small business registrants of pesticides. In accordance with section 4(c) of FIFRA, the Agency has published lists of active ingredients subject to reregistration. List A was published in the Federal Register of February 22, 1989 (54 FR 7740), List B in the Federal Register of May 25, 1989 (54 FR 22706), List C in the Federal Register of July 24, 1989 (54 FR 30846) and the last list, List D in the Federal Register of October 24, 1989 (54 FR 43388). In addition, registrants will be notified of the time by which they are to notify the Agency whether or not they intend to seek reregistration. For a detailed discussion of the reregistration of registered pesticides and the fee schedules, you should refer to section 4 of FIFRA as amended October, 1988. D. TOLERANCE PETITION FEES Under section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), fees may be charged to cover the cost of the processing and review of tolerance petitions. Tolerances are required to be established for residues of a pesticide whose use may result in residues on a food or feed commodity. Refer to 40 CFR section 180.33 for a detailed discussion of the various fees required for the type of petition for which you intend to make application. The fees vary considerably according to type of petition requested and its complexity and they will be adjusted annually in accordance with section 180.33(o). You should refer to the February 7, 1991 Federal Register Notice (56 FR 4946) for a more detailed discussion of the tolerance processing fee requirements and to Chapter 7 of this manual for a very brief, general discussion of some of the fees required for the more frequently requested petitions for tolerance. E. WHO TO CONTACT FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION If you have any questions concerning 1) whether a petition for a tolerance is required, 2) the appropriate fee, 3) how to submit your application for product registration and/or a petition for tolerance, or 4) what data are required to support your application for product registration and/or petition for tolerance, please contact the appropriate Product Manager for that pesticide. If the petition for tolerance and/or application for product registration involves a new chemical not yet assigned to a Product Manager, you should contact the appropriate Deputy Branch Chief, or Branch Chief for a Product Manager assignment. Refer to Chapter 18 of this manual for a listing of the various Product Managers, Deputy Branch Chiefs and Branch Chiefs. F. REFERENCES CITED IN CHAPTER 8 - Refer to Chapter 16 for information on the source of these documents. 1. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40 Part 180 - Tolerances and exemptions from tolerances for pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities 2. Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act Section 408 - Tolerances for pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities 3. Federal Register Notices - Tolerance Processing Fees, February 7, 1991 (56 FR 4946) - Pesticides For Which Registration Standards Have Been Issued (List A), February 22, 1989 (54 FR 7740) - Pesticides Required To Be Reregistered - (List B), May 25, 1989 (54 FR 22706) - (List C), July 24, 1989 (54 FR 30846) - (List D), October 24, 1989 (54 FR 43388) 4. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, as amended October, 1988 Section 4 - Reregistration of registered products 5. Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, November 28, 1990 Subtitle H - Pesticides - Sections 1493 6. Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act Amendments of 1991, December 13, 1991 Section 1006 - Amendments to FIFRA and Related Provisions