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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
20-F-0328
September 23, 2020
Why We Did This Project
The Pesticide Registration
Improvement Act requires that
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Office of
Inspector General perform an
annual audit of the financial
statements for the Pesticide
Registration Fund, which is
also known as the PRIA Fund.
To expedite the registration of
certain pesticides, Congress
authorized the 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
OIG perform an analysis of the
Agency's compliance with
those review periods.
This report addresses the
following:
•	Operating efficiently and
effectively.
This report relates to a top EPA
management challenge:
•	Fulfilling mandated reporting
requirements.
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.
List of OIG reports.
Fiscal Years 2019 and 2018 Financial
Statements for the Pesticide Registration Fund
EPA Receives an Unmodified Opinion
We rendered an unmodified opinion on the
Pesticide Registration Fund financial statements
for fiscal years 2019 and 2018, meaning they
were fairly presented and free of material
misstatement.
We found the EPA's PRIA
Fund financial statements to
be fairly presented and free
of material misstatements.
Internal Controls Material Weakness—Financial Statement
Preparation
We noted a material weakness in internal control regarding the preparation
process for the financial statements, which we initially reported in OIG Report
No. 20-F-0033, EPA's Fiscal Years 2019 and 2018 (Restated) Consolidated
Financial Statements, issued November 19, 2019. We are rereporting this
material weakness for the PRIA Fund financial statements.
We found multiple instances where the Agency had misstatements of its
adjustments and financial statements. The Office of Management and Budget
requires that information in the financial statements be presented in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles. Agency personnel initially failed to
make the appropriate adjustments to the financial statements, believing their
accounting was accurate. Failure to properly record accounting adjustments and
exercise due diligence in the preparation of the Agency's financial statements
compromises the accuracy of the financial statements and the reliance on them
to be free of material misstatements. These errors were corrected when we
brought them to the attention of management.
Compliance with Applicable Laws and Regulations, Contracts, and
Grant Agreements	
We did not identify any instances of noncompliance 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 review periods.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Action
We recommend that the chief financial officer improve the management review of
financial statements prior to providing them to OIG auditors, so that we receive
timely and accurate financial statements, as well as accurate and reliable
supporting documentation for adjustments and corrections to the financial
statements. The Agency agreed with our recommendations and has provided an
estimated time frame for completion.

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