Under PRIA 3, refunds for a portion of the registration service fee are provided following the withdrawal of a PRIA-covered application and at the request of an applicant. Refunds may be provided as a credit for a portion of the Agency’s work having been completed before October 1, 2012 or with another application.

Although refund decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, the Agency intends to use the formulas in the Fee Reduction Tables as a guide in calculating the amount of any refund. The formulas were developed based on the unique review processes within each regulatory group:

• Antimicrobials Division (A fee categories).
• Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division (B fee categories).
• Registration Division (R fee categories).
• The review process for pesticide inert ingredients (I fee categories).

The formulas take into consideration that 25% of the registration service fee for each category is non-refundable (Section 33(b)(2)(G)). Since the Agency must retain 25% of the fee, a refund will not be given if a 75% fee waiver or reduction has been granted.

Fee Reduction Tables

Refunds Following a Withdrawal

According to FIFRA Section 33(b)(8)(a):

• If an application is withdrawn during the first 60 days after the beginning of the PRIA decision review period, the Agency will refund all but 25% of the registration fee.
• Refunds for applications withdrawn after the first 60 days of the decision review period will be proportional to the work remaining at the time the action is withdrawn.
• The maximum that can be refunded is 75%.
• The Agency will determine the amount of the refund within 90 days after withdrawal and provide any refund as soon as practicable thereafter.
• Once withdrawn, any future submission related to the application must be submitted as a new application.

Fee Reduction – Discretionary Refund

Under section 33(b)(8)(C) of FIFRA, the Agency has discretionary authority to issue a partial refund (up to 75%) of the registration service fee in certain situations. The Agency may refund a portion of a covered registration service fee for one of the following bases:

1. in reviewing the application, the Agency has considered data submitted in support of another pesticide registration application;
2. the Agency has completed portions of the review of the application before the effective date of section 33 of FIFRA; or
3. the Agency has rejected the application under the initial content or preliminary technical screen.

Some discretionary refunds are routine and, if requested, are applied at the time of submission. The second basis listed above may apply for certain applications, for example, new inert approvals, that previously were not subject to pesticide registration service fee but became subject to fees after October 1, 2012. For such applications, the applicant may choose to voluntarily pay the pesticide registration service fee and request a discretionary refund based on the amount of work that was completed before October 1, 2012.

Additional guidance on refunds may be obtained on the primary/secondary Web page or by contacting the appropriate Registration Ombudsman.

Requests for other reductions in the fee should be discussed with the appropriate Registration Ombudsman. Although refund decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, the Agency intends to use the formulas in the Fee Reduction Tables as a guide in calculating the amount of these discretionary refunds.

Because the Agency must retain 25% of any registration service fee, discretionary refunds will not be considered if an application’s fee has already been reduced by 75% as a result of a small business fee waiver.