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Commitments and Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments
Unconditional Purchase Obligations
As of March 31, 2023, purchase commitments for capital expenditures were $105.4 million, all of which is obligated within the next two years, with $97.4 million obligated within the next 12 months.
There were no other material changes to the Company’s commitments from the information provided in Note 21. “Commitments and Contingencies” to the consolidated financial statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Contingencies
From time to time, the Company or its subsidiaries are involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business or related to indemnities or historical operations. The Company believes it has recorded adequate reserves for these liabilities. The Company discusses its significant legal proceedings below, including ongoing proceedings and those that impacted the Company’s consolidated results of operations for the periods presented.
Litigation and Matters Relating to Continuing Operations
Metropolitan Mine Stormwater Discharge. Over the past few years, there has been significantly high rainfall in New South Wales, including unprecedented rain totals at the Metropolitan Mine site. While stormwater collected at the mine site is managed through two sedimentation dams, at times the heavy rainfall has presented challenges with managing the significant volumes of stormwater, as the surface water management infrastructure has not had sufficient capacity. As a result, on multiple occasions throughout 2021 and 2022 stormwater has been discharged from the mine site. Metropolitan Collieries Pty Ltd (MCPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PEC, removed accumulated material from the sedimentation dams to restore full site stormwater capacity by December 31, 2022 and has identified and is implementing additional controls for the management of sediment moving forward. Despite the measures undertaken by MCPL to manage and improve the situation, the Environment Protection Authority is currently undertaking an investigation in relation to the discharges of sediment laden water from the mine site and a review process of the Metropolitan Mine’s environmental protection license is ongoing. The Environment Protection Authority is investigating potential offenses against the environmental protection legislation arising from the stormwater discharges from the site.
Puerto Rico Climate Change Lawsuit. On November 22, 2022, the Municipalities of Puerto Rico filed a class action complaint for damages against several major energy fuel producers, including Peabody Energy. This lawsuit represents the latest in a series of lawsuits that have been brought in both state and federal court around the United States, generally seeking to impose liability on the energy fuel producers for the effects allegedly caused by climate change. Many of these lawsuits have been brought on behalf of governmental entities (counties, cities, and towns) by plaintiff law firms on a contingent fee arrangement. The causes of action in the Puerto Rico lawsuit include public and private nuisance, liability for failure to warn, consumer fraud, antitrust and claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. On April 21, 2023, the plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal dismissing all claims against the Company without prejudice.
Other
At times, the Company becomes a party to other disputes, including those related to contract miner performance, claims, lawsuits, arbitration proceedings, regulatory investigations and administrative procedures in the ordinary course of business in the U.S., Australia and other countries where the Company does business. Based on current information, the Company believes that such other pending or threatened proceedings are likely to be resolved without a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. The Company reassesses the probability and estimability of contingent losses as new information becomes available.
Claims, Litigation and Settlements Relating to Indemnities or Historical Operations
Patriot-Related Matters. Included in the Company’s discontinued operations are the previously divested legacy operations of Patriot Coal Corporation and certain of its wholly-owned subsidiaries (Patriot). In 2012, Patriot filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the U.S. Code (the Bankruptcy Code). In 2013, the Company entered into a definitive settlement agreement (2013 Agreement) with Patriot and the United Mine Workers of America, on behalf of itself, its represented Patriot employees and its represented Patriot retirees, to resolve all then-disputed issues related to Patriot’s bankruptcy. In May 2015, Patriot again filed voluntary petitions for relief under the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and subsequently initiated a process to sell substantially all of its assets to qualified bidders. On October 9, 2015, Patriot’s bankruptcy court entered an order confirming Patriot’s plan of reorganization, which provided, among other things, for the sale of substantially all of Patriot’s assets to two different buyers.
Patriot had federal and state black lung occupational disease liabilities related to workers employed in periods prior to Patriot’s spin-off from the Company in 2007. Upon spin-off, Patriot indemnified the Company against any claim relating to these liabilities, which amounted to approximately $150 million at that time. The indemnification included any claim made by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) against the Company with respect to these obligations as a potentially liable operator under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. The 2013 Agreement included Patriot’s affirmance of indemnities provided in the spin-off agreements, including the indemnity relating to such black lung liabilities; however, Patriot rejected this indemnity in its May 2015 bankruptcy.
By statute, the Company had secondary liability for the black lung liabilities related to Patriot’s workers employed by former subsidiaries of the Company. The Company’s accounting for the black lung liabilities related to Patriot is based on an interpretation of applicable statutes. Management believes that inconsistencies exist among the applicable statutes, regulations promulgated under those statutes and the DOL’s interpretative guidance. The Company has sought clarification from the DOL regarding these inconsistencies. The amount of these liabilities could be reduced in the future. Whether the Company will ultimately be required to fund certain of those obligations in the future as a result of Patriot’s May 2015 bankruptcy remains uncertain. The amount of the liability, which was determined on an actuarial basis based on the best information available to the Company, was $80.7 million and $82.3 million at March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. The liability, which is classified as discontinued operations, is included in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets within “Accounts payable and accrued expenses” and “Other noncurrent liabilities.” While the Company has recorded a liability, it intends to review each claim on a case-by-case basis and contest liability estimates as appropriate. The amount of the Company’s recorded liability reflects only Patriot workers employed by former subsidiaries of the Company that are presently retired, disabled or otherwise not actively employed. The Company cannot reliably estimate the potential liabilities for Patriot’s workers employed by former subsidiaries of the Company that are presently active in the workforce because of the potential for such workers to continue to work for another coal operator that is a going concern.