11. Commitments and Contingencies

Operating Leases

The Company conducts its operations in various leased facilities under leases that are classified as operating leases for financial statement purposes. Certain leases provide for payment of real estate taxes, common area maintenance, insurance and certain other expenses. Lease terms may have escalating rent provisions and rent holidays which are expensed on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Also, certain equipment used in Company operations is leased under operating leases.

Operating lease commitments for the five years following December 31, 2012 and thereafter are as follows:


Years Ending December 31,	Amount
	(in millions)
2013	$	75.2
2014		64.6
2015		54.2
2016		39.5
2017		29.9
Thereafter		65.4

Total	$	328.8

The fixed operating lease commitments detailed above assume that the Company continues the leases through their initial lease terms. Rent expense, including equipment rentals, was $103, $110 and $96.0 for 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Contingencies

The Company is involved in various legal disputes and other legal proceedings that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of business. In addition, the Company or certain of its subsidiaries have been identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) or a state environmental agency as a Potentially Responsible Party (“PRP”) pursuant to the federal Superfund Act and/or state Superfund laws comparable to the federal law at various sites. Based on currently available information, the Company does not believe that the disposition of any of the legal or environmental disputes the Company or its subsidiaries are currently involved in will have a material adverse effect upon the consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows of the Company. It is possible that, as additional information becomes available, the impact on the Company of an adverse determination could have a different effect.

Environmental

The Company’s operations are subject to certain federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations in addition to laws and regulations regarding labeling and packaging of products and the sales of products containing certain environmentally sensitive materials. In addition to ongoing environmental compliance at its operations, the Company also is actively engaged in environmental remediation activities, the majority of which relates to divested operations and sites. Various of the Company’s subsidiaries have been identified by the EPA or a state environmental agency as a PRP pursuant to the federal Superfund Act and/or state Superfund laws comparable to the federal law at various sites (collectively, the “Environmental Sites”). The Company has established reserves to cover the anticipated probable costs of investigation and remediation based upon periodic reviews of all sites for which they have, or may have, remediation responsibility. The Company accrues environmental investigation and remediation costs when it is probable that a liability has been incurred, the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated and their responsibility for the liability is established. Generally, the timing of these accruals coincides with the earlier of a formal commitment to an investigation plan, completion of a feasibility study or a commitment to a formal plan of action. The Company accrues its best estimate of investigation and remediation costs based upon facts known at such dates, and because of the inherent difficulties in estimating the ultimate amount of environmental costs, which are further described below, these estimates may materially change in the future as a result of the uncertainties described below. Estimated costs, which are based upon experience with similar sites and technical evaluations, are judgmental in nature and are recorded at discounted amounts without considering the impact of inflation and are adjusted periodically to reflect changes in applicable laws or regulations, changes in available technologies and receipt by the Company of new information. It is difficult to estimate the ultimate level of future environmental expenditures due to a number of uncertainties surrounding environmental liabilities. These uncertainties include the applicability of laws and regulations, changes in environmental remediation requirements, the enactment of additional regulations, uncertainties surrounding remediation procedures including the development of new technology, the identification of new sites for which various of the Company’s subsidiaries could be a PRP, information relating to the exact nature and extent of the contamination at each Environmental Site and the extent of required cleanup efforts, the uncertainties with respect to the ultimate outcome of issues which may be actively contested and the varying costs of alternative remediation strategies.

Due to the uncertainties described above, the Company’s ultimate future liability with respect to sites at which remediation has not been completed may vary from the amounts reserved as of December 31, 2012.

The Company believes that the costs of completing environmental remediation of all sites for which the Company has a remediation responsibility have been adequately reserved and that the ultimate resolution of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Company.

Litigation

The Company and/or its subsidiaries are involved in various lawsuits arising from time to time that the Company considers ordinary routine litigation incidental to its business. Amounts accrued for litigation matters represent the anticipated costs (damages and/or settlement amounts) in connection with pending litigation and claims and related anticipated legal fees for defending such actions. The costs are accrued when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. The accruals are based upon the Company’s assessment, after consultation with counsel (if deemed appropriate), of probable loss based on the facts and circumstances of each case, the legal issues involved, the nature of the claim made, the nature of the damages sought and any relevant information about the plaintiffs and other significant factors that vary by case. When it is not possible to estimate a specific expected cost to be incurred, the Company evaluates the range of probable loss and records the minimum end of the range. The Company believes that anticipated probable costs of litigation matters have been adequately reserved to the extent determinable. Based on current information, the Company believes that the ultimate conclusion of the various pending litigation of the Company, in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Company.

Product Liability

As a consumer goods manufacturer and distributor, the Company and/or its subsidiaries face the risk of product liability and related lawsuits involving claims for substantial money damages, product recall actions and higher than anticipated rates of warranty returns or other returns of goods.

The Company and/or its subsidiaries are therefore party to various personal injury and property damage lawsuits relating to their products and incidental to their business. Annually, the Company sets its product liability insurance program, which is an occurrence- based program based on the Company and its subsidiaries’ current and historical claims experience and the availability and cost of insurance. The Company’s product liability insurance program generally includes a self-insurance retention per occurrence.

Cumulative amounts estimated to be payable by the Company with respect to pending and potential claims for all years in which the Company is liable under its self-insurance retention have been accrued as liabilities. Such accrued liabilities are based on estimates (which include actuarial determinations made by an independent actuarial consultant as to liability exposure, taking into account prior experience, number of claims and other relevant factors); thus, the Company’s ultimate liability may exceed or be less than the amounts accrued. The methods of making such estimates and establishing the resulting liability are reviewed on a regular basis and any adjustments resulting therefrom are reflected in current operating results.

Based on current information, the Company believes that the ultimate conclusion of the various pending product liability claims and lawsuits of the Company, in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Company.