Audit Report OIG-20-013 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Audit of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council’s Financial Statements for Fiscal Years 2019 and 2018 November 19, 2019 Office of Inspector General Department of the Treasury This Page Intentionally Left Blank Contents Transmittal Letter to the Chairperson Section I – Independent Auditors’ Report Section II – Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Agency Financial Report Fiscal Year 2019 This Page Intentionally Left Blank DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL November 19, 2019 The Honorable Andrew Wheeler Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency Chairperson, Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20004 Dear Chairperson Wheeler: Under a contract monitored by our office, RMA Associates, LLC (RMA), an independent certified public accounting firm, audited the financial statements of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council) as of September 30, 2019 and 2018, and for the years then ended, provided a report on internal control over financial reporting, and a report on compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements tested. The contract required that the audit be performed in accordance with government auditing standards and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 19-03, Audit Requirements for Federal Financial Statements. The audit of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council’s financial statements is required by the Chief Financial Officer’s Act, as amended by the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002. This audit was performed as part of our authority under Section 1608 of the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012. In its audit of the Council, RMA found: • the financial statements were fairly presented, in all material respects, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; • no deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting that are considered material weaknesses; and • no instances of reportable noncompliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements tested. In connection with the contract, we reviewed RMA’s reports and related documentation and inquired of its representatives. Our review, as differentiated from an audit performed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, was not intended to enable us to express, and we do not express an opinion on the Council’s financial statements or conclusions about the effectiveness of internal control or compliance with laws and regulations. RMA is responsible for the attached auditors’ report dated November 15, 2019, and the conclusions expressed in the report. However, our review disclosed no instances where RMA did Page 2 not comply, in all material respects, with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards and OMB Bulletin No. 19-03. I appreciate the courtesy and cooperation extended to RMA and my staff during the audit. If you wish to discuss this report, please contact me at (202) 622-1090, or a member of your staff may contact Deborah Harker, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, at (202) 927-5400. Sincerely, /s/ Richard K. Delmar Acting Inspector General, Department of the Treasury Enclosure cc: Ben Scaggs, Executive Director SECTION I Independent Auditors’ Report This Page Intentionally Left Blank 1005 North Glebe Road, Suite 610 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: (571) 429-6600 www.rmafed.com Independent Auditors’ Report Acting Inspector General Department of the Treasury Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency and Chairperson, Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Report on the Financial Statements We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council) which comprise the balance sheets as of September 30, 2019 and 2018, and the related statements of net cost, changes in net position, and budgetary resources (hereinafter referred to as “financial statements” or “basic financial statements”), for the years then ended; and the related notes to the financial statements. Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Auditor’s Responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Bulletin No. 19-03, Audit Requirements for Federal Financial Statements. Those standards and OMB Bulletin No. 19-03 require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence over the account balances and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditors’ judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of the accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Government Audit Quality Center 1 1005 North Glebe Road, Suite 610 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: (571) 429-6600 www.rmafed.com We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion. Opinion on the Financial Statements In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Council as of September 30, 2019 and 2018, and its net costs, changes in net position, and budgetary resources for the years then ended, in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Other Matters Required Supplementary Information Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America require that the Management’s Discussion and Analysis be presented to supplement the basic financial statements. Such information, although not a part of the basic financial statements, is required by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, who considers it to be an essential part of financial reporting for placing the basic financial statements in an appropriate operational, economic, or historical context. We have applied certain limited procedures to the required supplementary information in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, which consisted of inquiries of management about the methods of preparing the information and comparing the information for consistency with management's responses to our inquiries, the basic financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during our audits of the basic financial statements. We do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the information because the limited procedures do not provide us with sufficient evidence to express an opinion or provide any assurance. Other Information Our audit was conducted for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic financial statements as a whole. The Message from the Executive Director and the Other Information are presented for purposes of additional analysis and are not a required part of the basic financial statements. Such information has not been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements, and accordingly, we do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on it. Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Government Audit Quality Center 2 1005 North Glebe Road, Suite 610 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: (571) 429-6600 www.rmafed.com Other Reporting Required by Government Auditing Standards Internal Control over Financial Reporting In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements, we considered the Council’s internal control over financial reporting (internal control) to determine the audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Council’s internal control. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on the effectiveness of the Council’s internal control. A deficiency in internal control exists