Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

California Trucking Lawsuit. On March 13, 2017, a former Crestwood truck driver filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court for Kern County, California on behalf of all Crestwood Transportation LLC’s California drivers alleging that Crestwood Equity and its officers, directors and employees violated the California wage and hour laws by failing to comply with certain requirements of the laws. The plaintiffs currently include a total of 13 former and current Company drivers, however they are seeking to certify this lawsuit as a class action, which could potentially include approximately 150 drivers. Although our insurance policies would not cover this action, we believe we have meritorious defenses to this lawsuit and will vigorously defend ourselves. We are unable to predict the outcome or to estimate a reasonably possible loss or range of loss for this matter.

General. We are periodically involved in litigation proceedings. If we determine that a negative outcome is probable and the amount of loss is reasonably estimable, then we accrue the estimated amount. The results of litigation proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty. We could incur judgments, enter into settlements or revise our expectations regarding the outcome of certain matters, and such developments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows in the period in which the amounts are paid and/or accrued. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, both CEQP and CMLP had approximately $2.1 million and less than $0.1 million accrued for outstanding legal matters. Based on currently available information, we believe it is remote that future costs related to known contingent liability exposures for which we can estimate will exceed current accruals by an amount that would have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial statements. As we learn new facts concerning contingencies, we reassess our position both with respect to accrued liabilities and other potential exposures.

Any loss estimates are inherently subjective, based on currently available information, and are subject to management’s judgment and various assumptions. Due to the inherently subjective nature of these estimates and the uncertainty and unpredictability surrounding the outcome of legal proceedings, actual results may differ materially from any amounts that have been accrued.

Regulatory Compliance

In the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to various laws and regulations. In the opinion of our management, compliance with current laws and regulations will not have a material effect on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

Environmental Compliance

Our operations are subject to stringent and complex laws and regulations pertaining to worker health, safety, and the environment. We are subject to laws and regulations at the federal, state, regional and local levels that relate to air and water quality, hazardous and solid waste management and disposal and other environmental matters. The cost of planning, designing, constructing and operating our facilities must incorporate compliance with environmental laws and regulations and worker safety standards. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may trigger a variety of administrative, civil and potentially criminal enforcement measures.

During 2014, we experienced three releases totaling approximately 28,000 barrels of produced water on our Arrow water gathering system located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. We immediately notified the National Response Center, the Three Affiliated Tribes and numerous other regulatory authorities. Thereafter, we contained and cleaned up the releases, and placed the impacted segments of these water lines back into service. In May 2015, we experienced a release of approximately 5,200 barrels of produced water on our Arrow water gathering system, immediately notified numerous regulatory authorities and other third parties, and thereafter contained and cleaned up the releases.

In October 2014, we received data requests from the EPA related to the 2014 water releases and we responded to the requests during the first half of 2015. In April 2015, the EPA issued a Notice of Potential Violation (NOPV) under the Clean Water Act relating to the 2014 water releases. We responded to the NOPV in May 2015 and in April 2017, we entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (the Order) with the EPA. The Order requires us to continue to remediate and monitor the impacted area for no less than four years unless all goals of the Order are satisfied earlier. On December 13, 2017, the EPA and Crestwood signed a Combined Complaint and Consent Agreement (CCCA) whereby we agreed to pay a civil penalty of $49,000 to the EPA and purchase emergency response equipment at an estimated cost of approximately $173,000 for the Three Affiliated Tribes as a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP). The CCCA and SEP concludes the EPA’s penalty phase related to this matter.

On March 3, 2015, we received a grand jury subpoena from the United States Attorney’s Office in Bismarck, North Dakota, seeking documents and information relating to the largest of the three 2014 water releases. We provided the requested information during the second quarter of 2015 and key employees were interviewed by the United States’ Attorney in December

2015. On September 13, 2017, we received a notice from the United States Department of Justice that it completed the

investigation with no charges being filed against us.

In August 2015, we received a notice of violation from the Three Affiliated Tribes’ Environmental Division related to our 2014 produced water releases on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The notice of violation imposes fines and requests reimbursements exceeding $1.1 million; however, the notice of violation was stayed on September 15, 2015, upon our posting of a performance bond for the amount contemplated by the notice, and pending the outcome of settlement discussions with the EPA related to the NOPV. Our discussions regarding the notice of violation continue with the Three Affiliated Tribes.

We will continue our remediation efforts to ensure the impacted lands are restored to their prior state. We believe these releases are insurable events under our policies, and we have notified our carriers of these events. We have not recorded an insurance receivable as of December 31, 2017.

At December 31, 2017 and 2016, our accrual of approximately $1.9 million and $2.1 million is based on our undiscounted estimate of amounts we will spend on compliance with environmental and other regulations, and any associated fines or penalties. We estimate that our potential liability for reasonably possible outcomes related to our environmental exposures (including the Arrow water releases described above) could range from approximately $1.9 million to $3.1 million at December 31, 2017.

Self-Insurance

We utilize third-party insurance subject to varying retention levels of self-insurance, which management considers prudent. Such self-insurance relates to losses and liabilities primarily associated with medical claims, workers’ compensation claims and general, product, vehicle and environmental liability. Losses are accrued based upon management’s estimates of the aggregate liability for claims incurred using certain assumptions followed in the insurance industry and based on past experience. The primary assumption utilized is actuarially determined loss development factors. The loss development factors are based primarily on historical data. Our self insurance reserves could be affected if future claim developments differ from the historical trends. We believe changes in health care costs, trends in health care claims of our employee base, accident frequency and severity and other factors could materially affect the estimate for these liabilities. We continually monitor changes in employee demographics, incident and claim type and evaluate our insurance accruals and adjust our accruals based on our evaluation of these qualitative data points. We are liable for the development of claims for our disposed retail propane operations, provided they were reported prior to August 1, 2012. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, CEQP’s self-insurance reserves were $13.6 million and $15.6 million. We estimate that $9.1 million of this balance will be paid subsequent to December 31, 2018. As such, CEQP has classified $9.1 million in other long-term liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2017. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, CMLP’s self-insurance reserves were $11.6 million and $12.2 million. CMLP estimates that $7.6 million of this balance will be paid subsequent to December 31, 2018. As such, CMLP has classified $7.6 million in other long-term liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2017.

Commitments and Purchase Obligations

Operating Leases. We also maintain operating leases in the ordinary course of our business activities. These leases include those for office buildings, crude oil railroad cars and other operating facilities and equipment. The terms of the agreements vary from 2018 until 2032.

Future minimum lease payments under our noncancelable operating leases for the next five years ending December 31 and in total thereafter consist of the following (in millions):



Year Ending December 31,
2018	$	35.2
2019	30.1
2020	23.2
2021	11.5
2022	7.7
Thereafter	18.8
Total minimum lease payments	$	126.5

Our rent expense for operating leases for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, totaled $34.2 million, $25.5 million and $37.4 million.

Purchase Commitments. We periodically enter into agreements with suppliers to purchase fixed quantities of NGLs, distillates, crude oil and natural gas at fixed prices. At December 31, 2017, the total of these firm purchase commitments was $479.3 million, substantially all of which will occur over the course of the next twelve months. We also enter into non-binding agreements with suppliers to purchase quantities of NGLs, distillates and natural gas at variable prices at future dates at the then prevailing market prices.

We have entered into certain purchase commitments primarily related to our G&P segment. At December 31, 2017, our total purchase commitments were approximately $63.9 million, which primarily relate to future growth projects and maintenance obligations in our G&P segment. The purchases associated with these commitments are expected to occur over the next twelve months.

Guarantees and Indemnifications. We are involved in various joint ventures that sometimes require financial and performance guarantees. In a financial guarantee, we are obligated to make payments if the guaranteed party fails to make payments under, or violates the terms of, the financial arrangement. In a performance guarantee, we provide assurance that the guaranteed party will execute on the terms of the contract. If they do not, we are required to perform on their behalf. We also periodically provide indemnification arrangements related to assets or businesses we have sold. For a further description of our guarantees associated with our joint ventures, see Note 6, and for a further description of our guarantees associated with our assets or businesses we have sold, see Note 9.

Our potential exposure under guarantee and indemnification arrangements can range from a specified amount to an unlimited dollar amount, depending on the nature of the claim, specificity as to duration, and the particular transaction. As of December 31, 2017, we have no amounts accrued for these guarantees.