Certain processes in the manufacture of our current and past products create by-products classified as hazardous waste. We have been notified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), state environmental agencies, and in some cases, groups of potentially responsible parties, that we may be potentially liable for environmental contamination at several sites currently and formerly owned or operated by us. Two of those sites, Asheville, North Carolina and Mountain View, California, are designated National Priorities List sites under the EPA’s Superfund program. We accrue a liability for probable remediation activities, claims and proceedings against us with respect to environmental matters if the amount can be reasonably estimated, and provide disclosures including the nature of a loss whenever it is probable or reasonably possible that a potentially material loss may have occurred but cannot be estimated. We record contingent loss accruals on an undiscounted basis.

A roll-forward of remediation reserves included in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets is comprised of the following:


	As of
	September 30,			December 31,
	2023			2022
Balance at beginning of period	$	11,048		$	10,979
Remediation expense		3,140			2,750
Net remediation payments		(2,179	)		(2,661	)
Other activity(1)		(3	)		(20	)
Balance at end of the period	$	12,006		$	11,048

(1)

Other activity includes currency translation adjustments not recorded through remediation expense.

The Company operates under and in accordance with a federal consent decree, dated March 7, 2017, with the EPA for the CTS of Asheville, Inc. Superfund Site (“Asheville Site”). On February 8, 2023, the Company received a letter from the EPA (the “EPA Letter”) seeking reimbursement of its past response costs and interest thereon relating to any release or threatened release of hazardous substances at the Asheville Site in the aggregate amount of $9,955 from the three potentially responsible parties associated with the Asheville Site, including the Company. The Company expects its potential exposure to be between $1,900 and $9,955. We have determined that no point within this range is more likely than another and therefore we have recorded a loss estimate of $1,900 as of September 30, 2023 in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Unrelated to the environmental claims described above, from time to time, the Company has been threatened with, or named as a defendant in, various legal or regulatory actions in the ordinary course of business. The Company records a loss contingency liability when a loss is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Although the potential liability with respect to certain of such legal or regulatory actions cannot be reasonably estimated, none of such matters is expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. The Company’s legal costs associated with defending itself are recorded to expense as incurred.

We provide product warranties when we sell our products and accrue for estimated liabilities at the time of sale. Warranty estimates are forecasts based on the best available information and historical claims experience. We accrue for specific warranty claims if we believe that the facts of a specific claim make it probable that a liability in excess of our historical experience has been or will be incurred, and provide disclosures for specific claims whenever it is reasonably possible that a material loss may be incurred which cannot be estimated.

We cannot provide assurance that the ultimate disposition of environmental, legal, and product warranty claims will not materially exceed the amount of our accrued losses and adversely impact our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. Our accrued liabilities and disclosures will be adjusted accordingly if additional information becomes available in the future.