At a Gla

24-F-0009
November 15, 2023

Audit of the EPA's Fiscal Years 2023 and 2022 (Restated) Consolidated
Financial Statements

Why We Did This Audit

To accomplish this objective:

We performed this audit in accordance
with the Government Management
Reform Act of 1994, which requires the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General to audit the
financial statements prepared by the
Agency each year. Our primary
objectives were to determine whether
the EPA's:

•	Financial statements were fairly
stated in all material respects in
accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles.

•	Internal control over financial
reporting was in place.

•	Management complied with
applicable laws, regulations,
contracts, and grant agreements.

This requirement for audited financial
statements was enacted to help
improve agencies' financial
management practices, systems, and
control so that timely, reliable
information is available for managing
federal programs.

To support this EPA mission-related
effort:

• Operating efficiently and
effectively.

Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG.PublicAffairs@epa.gov.

The EPA Receives an Unmodified Opinion for Fiscal Years 2023 and
2022 (Restated)

We rendered an unmodified opinion on the EPA's consolidated financial statements for fiscal
years 2023 and 2022 (restated), meaning that they were fairly presented and free of material
misstatement.

We found the EPA's financial statements to be fairly presented and
free of material misstatement.

Significant Deficiencies Noted

We noted the following significant deficiencies:

•	The EPA did not provide accurate information for its revenue accruals.

•	The EPA did not deobligate unneeded funds in a timely manner.

•	The EPA operated under an expired Interconnection Security Agreement and
Memorandum of Agreement, which could hamper invoice processing.

•	The EPA did not review user accounts for EPA contracting personnel every
60 days, as required by its information security procedure.

Compliance with Applicable Laws, Regulations, Contracts, and
Grant Agreements

We did not note any significant noncompliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant
agreements.

Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions

We make seven recommendations to the EPA, including that the chief financial officer
instruct the regions to take action to correct the accrual and to provide information on a
quarterly basis, develop and implement plans to deobligate unneeded funds in a timely
manner and to ensure that future Interconnection Security Agreement and Memorandum of
Agreement documents are reauthorized before the current agreements expire, and
determine how to review user accounts in compliance with the EPA's information security
procedure. We also recommend that the Great Lakes National Program Office review
accrual information to ensure its accuracy. The EPA agreed with all seven
recommendations, completed corrective actions in response to one, and provided
acceptable planned corrective actions and estimated milestone dates for the others.

List of OIG reports.


-------