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Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]  
Accounting for Asset Retirement Obligations ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
We recognize our estimated asset retirement obligations (“AROs”) in the period in which we have an existing legal obligation associated with the retirement of a tangible long-lived asset and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. The ARO is recognized at fair value when the liability is incurred with a corresponding increase in the carrying amount of the related long lived asset. We depreciate the tangible asset over its estimated useful life. The liability is adjusted in subsequent periods through accretion expense which represents the increase in the present value of the liability due to the passage of time. Such depreciation and accretion expenses are included in cost of goods sold for operating facilities and other operating expense for indefinitely closed facilities.
Our legal obligations related to asset retirement require us to: (i) reclaim lands disturbed by mining as a condition to receive permits to mine phosphate ore reserves; (ii) treat low pH process water in Gypstacks to neutralize acidity; (iii) close and monitor Gypstacks at our Florida and Louisiana facilities at the end of their useful lives; (iv) remediate certain other conditional obligations; (v) remove all surface structures and equipment, plug and abandon mine shafts, contour and revegetate, as necessary, and monitor for five years after closing our Carlsbad, New Mexico facility; (vi) decommission facilities, manage tailings and execute site reclamation at our Saskatchewan potash mines at the end of their useful lives; (vii)
de-commission mines in Brazil and Peru acquired as part of the Acquisition and (viii) de-commission plant sites and close Gypstacks in Brazil, also as part of the Acquisition. The estimated liability for these legal obligations is based on the estimated cost to satisfy the above obligations which is discounted using a credit-adjusted risk-free rate.
A reconciliation of our AROs is as follows:
 
Years Ended December 31,
(in millions)
2019
 
2018
AROs, beginning of period
$
1,160.1

 
$
859.3

Liabilities acquired in the Acquisition
—

 
258.9

Liabilities incurred
15.8

 
27.8

Liabilities settled
(112.8
)
 
(69.6
)
Accretion expense
62.4

 
48.0

Revisions in estimated cash flows
191.0

 
78.2

Foreign currency translation
(1.3
)
 
(42.5
)
AROs, end of period
1,315.2

 
1,160.1

Less current portion
154.4

 
136.3

 
$
1,160.8

 
$
1,023.8


North America Gypstack Closure Costs
A majority of our ARO relates to Gypstack Closure Costs in Florida and Louisiana. For financial reporting purposes, we recognize our estimated Gypstack Closure Costs at their present value. This present value determined for financial reporting purposes is reflected on our Consolidated Balance Sheets in accrued liabilities and other noncurrent liabilities. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the present value of our Gypstack Closure Costs ARO reflected in our Consolidated Balance Sheet was approximately $660.2 million and $578.4 million, respectively.
As discussed below, we have arrangements to provide financial assurance for the estimated Gypstack Closure Costs associated with our facilities in Florida and Louisiana.
EPA RCRA Initiative. On September 30, 2015, we and our subsidiary, Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC (“Mosaic Fertilizer”), reached agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (“FDEP”) and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) on the terms of two consent decrees (collectively, the “2015 Consent Decrees”) to resolve claims relating to our management of certain waste materials onsite at our Riverview, New Wales, Mulberry, Green Bay, South Pierce and Bartow fertilizer manufacturing facilities in Florida and our Faustina and Uncle Sam facilities in Louisiana. This followed a 2003 announcement by the EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance that it would be targeting facilities in mineral processing industries, including phosphoric acid producers, for a thorough review under the U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and related state laws. As discussed below, a separate consent decree was previously entered into with EPA and the FDEP with respect to RCRA compliance at the Plant City, Florida phosphate concentrates facility (the “Plant City Facility”) that we acquired as part of our acquisition (the “CF Phosphate Assets Acquisition”) of the Florida phosphate assets and assumption of certain related liabilities of CF Industries, Inc. (“CF”).
The remaining monetary obligations under the 2015 Consent Decrees include:
•
Modification of certain operating practices and undertaking certain capital improvement projects over a period of several years that are expected to result in capital expenditures likely to exceed $200 million in the aggregate.
•
Provision of additional financial assurance for the estimated Gypstack Closure Costs for Gypstacks at the covered facilities. The RCRA Trusts are discussed in Note 13 to our Consolidated Financial Statements. In addition, we have agreed to guarantee the difference between the amounts held in each RCRA Trust (including any earnings) and the estimated closure and long-term care costs.
As of December 31, 2019, the undiscounted amount of our Gypstack Closure Costs ARO associated with the facilities covered by the 2015 Consent Decrees, determined using the assumptions used for financial reporting purposes, was
approximately $1.6 billion, and the present value of our Gypstack Closure Costs ARO reflected in our Consolidated Balance Sheet for those facilities was approximately $429.3 million.
Plant City and Bonnie Facilities. As part of the CF Phosphate Assets Acquisition, we assumed certain AROs related to Gypstack Closure Costs at both the Plant City Facility and a closed Florida phosphate concentrates facility in Bartow, Florida (the “Bonnie Facility”) that we acquired. Associated with these assets are two related financial assurance arrangements for which we became responsible and that provide sources of funds for the estimated Gypstack Closure Costs for these facilities, pursuant to federal or state law: the government entities can draw against such amounts in the event we cannot perform such closure activities. One was initially a trust (the “Plant City Trust”) established to meet the requirements under a consent decree with the EPA and the FDEP with respect to RCRA compliance at Plant City that also satisfied Florida financial assurance requirements at that site. Beginning in September 2016, as a substitute for the financial assurance provided through the Plant City Trust, we have provided financial assurance for Plant City in the form of a surety bond (the “Plant City Bond”). The amount of the Plant City Bond is $244.9 million, at December 31, 2019, which reflects our closure cost estimates at that date.  The other was also a trust fund (the “Bonnie Facility Trust”) established to meet the requirements under Florida financial assurance regulations that apply to the Bonnie Facility. On July 27, 2018, we received $21.0 million from the Bonnie Facility Trust by substituting the trust fund for a financial test mechanism (“Bonnie Financial Test”) supported by a corporate guarantee as allowed by state regulations. Both financial assurance funding obligations require estimates of future expenditures that could be impacted by refinements in scope, technological developments, new information, cost inflation, changes in regulations, discount rates and the timing of activities. Under our current approach to satisfying applicable requirements, additional financial assurance would be required in the future if increases in cost estimates exceed the face amount of the Plant City Bond or the amount supported by the Bonnie Financial Test.
As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the aggregate amounts of AROs associated with the Plant City Facility and Bonnie Facility Gypstack Closure Costs included in our consolidated balance sheet were $211.2 million and $109.2 million, respectively. The aggregate amount represented by the Plant City Bond exceeds the aggregate amount of ARO associated with that Facility. This is because the amount of financial assurance we are required to provide represents the aggregate undiscounted estimated amount to be paid by us in the normal course of our Phosphates business over a period that may not end until three decades or more after the Gypstack has been closed, whereas the ARO included in our Consolidated Balance Sheet reflects the discounted present value of those estimated amounts.