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* *. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	19-F-0215
J" ftS \ Office of Inspector General	June 28,2019
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Project
The Pesticide Registration
Improvement Act (PRIA)
requires that we perform an
annual audit of the Pesticide
Registration Fund (also known
as the PRIA Fund) financial
statements.
To expedite the registration
of certain pesticides,
Congress authorized the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to assess and
collect pesticide registration
fees. The fees collected are
deposited into the PRIA Fund.
The agency is required to
prepare financial statements
that present financial
information about the fund.
PRIA also requires that
decision-time review periods
be established for pesticide
registration actions and that
the Office of Inspector General
(OIG) perform an analysis of
the agency's compliance with
those review periods.
This report addresses the
following:
• Operating efficiently and
effectively.
Fiscal Years 2017 and 2016 (Restated) Financial
Statements for the Pesticide Registration Fund
EPA Receives a Modified Opinion
We rendered a modified opinion on the PRIA
Fund financial statements for fiscal year
(FY) 2017, meaning that except for the possible
effects of the agency's inability to support
PRIA's payroll accruals and related expenses in
FY 2016, the FY 2017 financial statements
were fairly presented.
We rendered a modified
opinion on the EPA's
FY 2017 PRIA Fund financial
statements and a disclaimer
of opinion on the FY 2016
(restated) PRIA Fund
financial statements.
We rendered a disclaimer of opinion on the PRIA Fund financial statements for
FY 2016, meaning we could not obtain sufficient, appropriate audit evidence to
provide a basis for an audit opinion. This disclaimer of opinion was rendered
because the agency could not support PRIA's payroll accruals and related
expenses in FY 2016.
Internal Control Material Weakness - Property
In FY 2017, the EPA corrected accounting errors in—and subsequently
restated—its FY 2016 PRIA Fund financial statements. When we examined the
transactions used to justify the restatement amounts, we found that the EPA did
not retain supporting documentation for $369,779.88 of the transactions. Federal
internal control standards require that all transactions be properly documented.
These standards also require that this documentation be retained for an
appropriate time period and be readily available for examination. Failure to retain
supporting documentation for PRIA transactions for an appropriate time period
casts doubt on management assertions regarding the recognition, measurement,
presentation and disclosure of PRIA property accounts; depreciation; operating
expenses; and the PRIA Fund's financial statements as a whole.
Compliance with Applicable Laws and Regulations
We did not identify any noncompliances that would result in a material
misstatement to the audited financial statements. In addition, the agency was in
substantial compliance with the statutory decision time frames.
Recommendation and Agency Corrective Action
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.oia.
List of OIG reports.
We recommended that the Chief Financial Officer analyze agency records
management schedules for financial management and determine how long
records should be maintained after the disposal of software and financial records
related to software assets. The agency agreed with our recommendation and
completed the corrective action.

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