Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities |
4. Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities
Liabilities for landfill and environmental remediation costs are
presented in the table below (in millions):
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December 31, 2015 |
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December 31, 2014 |
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Landfill |
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Environmental
Remediation |
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Total |
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Landfill |
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Environmental
Remediation |
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Total |
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Current (in accrued liabilities)
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$ |
112 |
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$ |
31 |
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$ |
143 |
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$ |
104 |
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$ |
43 |
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$ |
147 |
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Long-term
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1,406 |
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178 |
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1,584 |
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1,339 |
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192 |
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1,531 |
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$ |
1,518 |
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$ |
209 |
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$ |
1,727 |
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$ |
1,443 |
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$ |
235 |
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$ |
1,678 |
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The changes to landfill and environmental remediation liabilities
for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2015 are reflected
in the table below (in millions):
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Landfill |
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Environmental
Remediation |
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December 31, 2013
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$ |
1,421 |
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$ |
227 |
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Obligations incurred and capitalized
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54 |
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— |
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Obligations settled
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(69 |
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(21 |
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Interest accretion
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88 |
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5 |
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Revisions in estimates and interest rate assumptions(a)(b)
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(9 |
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25 |
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Acquisitions, divestitures and other adjustments(c)
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(42 |
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(1 |
) |
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December 31, 2014
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$ |
1,443 |
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$ |
235 |
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Obligations incurred and capitalized
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61 |
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— |
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Obligations settled
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(71 |
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(30 |
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Interest accretion
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89 |
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3 |
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Revisions in estimates and interest rate assumptions(a)(b)
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(11 |
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5 |
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Acquisitions, divestitures and other adjustments(c)
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7 |
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(4 |
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December 31, 2015
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$ |
1,518 |
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$ |
209 |
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(a) |
The amounts reported for our landfill
liabilities include an increase of approximately $2 million for
2014 and a decrease of approximately $18 million for 2015, related
to our year-end annual review of landfill final capping, closure
and post-closure obligations. |
(b) |
The amount reported in 2014 for
environmental remediation liabilities includes the impact of a
decrease in the risk-free discount rate used to measure our
liabilities from 3.0% at December 31, 2013 to 2.0% at
December 31, 2014, resulting in an increase of $13 million to
our environmental remediation liabilities and a corresponding
increase to “Operating” expenses. |
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The amount reported in 2015 for our
environmental remediation liabilities includes the impact of an
increase in the risk-free discount rate used to measure our
liabilities from 2.0% at December 31, 2014 to 2.25% at
December 31, 2015, resulting in a decrease of $3 million to
our environmental remediation liabilities and a corresponding
decrease to “Operating” expenses. |
(c) |
The amounts reported for our 2014
landfill liabilities include reductions of approximately $25
million for divestitures, including the divestiture of our
Wheelabrator business. |
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The amounts reported for our 2015
landfill liabilities include an increase of approximately $18
million associated with the acquisition of Deffenbaugh Disposal,
Inc. (“Deffenbaugh”). |
Our recorded liabilities as of December 31, 2015 include the
impacts of inflating certain of these costs based on our
expectations for the timing of cash settlement and of discounting
certain of these costs to present value. Anticipated payments of
currently identified environmental remediation liabilities as
measured in current dollars are $32 million in 2016, $26 million in
2017, $30 million in 2018, $19 million in 2019, $11 million in 2020
and $89 million thereafter.
At several of our landfills, we provide financial assurance by
depositing cash into restricted trust funds or escrow accounts for
purposes of settling final capping, closure, post-closure and
environmental remediation obligations. Generally, these trust funds
are established to comply with statutory requirements and operating
agreements. See Notes 18 and 20 for additional information related
to these trusts.
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