ITEM 9A.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure controls and procedures. CNX, under the supervision and with the participation of its management, including CNX’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s “disclosure controls and procedures,” as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as of the end of the period covered by this Form 10-K. Based on that evaluation, CNX’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are effective as of December 31, 2020 to ensure that information required to be disclosed by CNX in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and includes controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by CNX in such reports is accumulated and communicated to CNX’s management, including CNX’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management's Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. CNX's management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. CNX's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
CNX's internal control over financial reporting includes policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of assets; (2) provide reasonable assurances that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and the directors of CNX; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of CNX's assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Management assessed the effectiveness of CNX's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Based on management's assessment and those criteria, management has concluded that CNX maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020.
The effectiveness of CNX's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 has been audited by Ernst & Young, LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report set forth in the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm in Part II. Item 9A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Changes in internal controls over financial reporting. There were no changes in the Company's internal controls over financial reporting that occurred during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
