P.R. Laws tit. 5, § 537
(a) The Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to charge a fee for voluntary (non-compulsory) services rendered by the Agricultural Materials Analysis and Registration Laboratory [of the Department of Agriculture] to private persons or entities that request them. The income derived therefrom shall be covered into the Agricultural Materials Analysis and Registration Laboratory Fund under the authority of subsection (b) of this section.
No fee whatsoever shall be charged for any service of a compulsory nature rendered by said laboratory under the laws in effect that govern the sale or distribution of agricultural supplies (pesticides, commercial fertilizers and commercial feed for domestic animals), in Puerto Rico, enforced by the Department of Agriculture.
(b) During the first five (5) years of the effectiveness of this act, the fees collected for this service shall be covered into a special fund, separate and distinct from all other money or fund belonging to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, destined to the Agricultural Materials Analysis and Registration Laboratory, that will be under the custody of the Secretary of the Treasury for the exclusive use of the Department of Agriculture. The funds that the Legislature appropriates for the operation of the laboratory, those collected for voluntary services rendered by it pursuant to what is provided by subsection (a) of this section, those collected for any other services, contributions from the federal government and any other funds that are obtained, shall also be covered into this account.
Notwithstanding this, prior to using the funds deposited in the Special Fund, the Department of Agriculture shall submit a proposal for the use of these funds to the Office of the Management and Budget. The remainder of the funds that have not been used or obligated on the 30th of June of each fiscal year, for the purposes of this section, shall be transferred to the General Fund of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
When the first five (5) years of effectiveness of this act have elapsed, the Special Fund created herein shall be eliminated and the sums collected on this account shall subsequently be covered into the General Fund.
(c) The Secretary shall establish by regulations, the fees he/she is authorized to charge under this section, which shall be reasonable and shall be determined, taking into consideration the complexity of the analysis, the average time entailed and the prevailing market fees or charges for these analyses, among other factors.
History —Dec. 6, 1990, No. 24, p. 1511, §§ 1-3.