SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES	(1) SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (a) Nature of business TransMontaigne Partners LLC (“we,” “us,” “our,” “the Company”) provides integrated terminaling, storage, transportation and related services for companies engaged in the trading, distribution and marketing of light refined petroleum products, heavy refined petroleum products, renewable products, crude oil, chemicals, fertilizers and other liquid products. We conduct our operations in the United States along the Gulf Coast, in the Midwest, in Houston and Brownsville, Texas, along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, in the Southeast and along the West Coast. In addition, we sell refined and renewable products to major fuel producers and marketers in the Pacific Northwest at our terminal operations in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. On November 17, 2021, Arclight contributed Pike West Coast Holdings, LLC (“Pike West Coast”) a portfolio company of ArcLight Energy Partners Fund VI, L.P. to the Company. Pike West Coast is an infrastructure company with significant operations across the renewable fuels supply chain in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (the “Pacific Northwest Contribution”). Pike West Coast owns a 100% ownership interest in SeaPort Financing, LLC. SeaPort Financing, LLC owns a 100% ownership interest in SeaPort Sound Terminal, LLC, which owns a refined and renewable products terminal in Tacoma, Washington; a 51% ownership interest in SeaPort Midstream Partners, LLC (“Seaport Midstream”), which owns refined and renewable products terminals in both Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon; and a 30% ownership interest in Olympic Pipeline Company, LLC (“Olympic Pipeline Company”), which owns the 400-mile Olympic Pipeline between Blaine, Washington and Portland, Oregon, and a refined and renewable products terminal in Bayview, Washington. The Pacific Northwest Contribution has been recorded at carryover basis as a reorganization of entities under common control. As such, prior periods include the assets, liabilities, and results of operations of the Pacific Northwest Contribution for all periods presented (See Note 3 of Notes to consolidated financial statements). (b) Basis of presentation and use of estimates Our accounting and financial reporting policies conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of TransMontaigne Partners LLC and its controlled subsidiaries. Investments where we do not have the ability to exercise control, but do have the ability to exercise significant influence, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The accompanying consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (consisting of normal and recurring accruals) considered necessary to present fairly our financial position as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 and our results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. In management’s opinion, the estimate of useful lives of our plant and equipment are subjective in nature, require the exercise of judgment and involve complex analyses. Changes in these estimates and assumptions will occur as a result of the passage of time and the occurrence of future events. Actual results could differ from these estimates. (c) Accounting for terminal and pipeline operations We generate revenue from terminaling services fees, management fees, pipeline transportation fees and product sales. Under Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”) and Topic 842, Leases and the series of related Accounting Standards Updates that followed (collectively referred to as “ASC 842”), we recognize revenue over time or at a point in time, depending on the nature of the performance obligations contained in the respective contract with our customer. The contract transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. The following is an overview of our significant revenue streams, including a description of the respective performance obligations and related method of revenue recognition. Terminaling services fees. Our terminaling services agreements are structured as either throughput agreements or storage agreements. Our throughput agreements contain provisions that require our customers to make minimum payments, which are based on contractually established minimum volumes of throughput of the customer’s product at our facilities, over a stipulated period of time. Due to this minimum payment arrangement, we recognize a fixed amount of revenue from the customer over a certain period of time, even if the customer throughputs less than the minimum volume of product during that period. In addition, if a customer throughputs a volume of product exceeding the minimum volume, we would recognize additional revenue on this incremental volume. Our storage agreements require our customers to make minimum payments based on the volume of storage capacity available to the customer under the agreement, which results in a fixed amount of recognized revenue. We refer to the fixed amount of revenue recognized pursuant to our terminaling services agreements as being “firm commitments.” Our terminaling services agreements include revenue recognized in accordance with ASC 606 and ASC 842. At the time of contract inception, we evaluate each contract to determine whether the contract contains a lease. Significant assumptions used in this process include the determination of whether substantive substitution rights exist based on the terms of the contract and available capacity at the terminal at the time of contract inception. Our terminaling services agreements do not allow our customers to purchase the underlying asset and vary in terms and conditions with respect to extension or termination options. If a contract is accounted for as a lease under ASC 842, we recognize the minimum payments as lease revenue and revenue recognized in excess of firm commitments as a variable payment of the lease. All other components of the contracts accounted for as a lease are treated as non-lease components (ancillary revenue) and are accounted for in accordance with ASC 606. The majority of our firm commitments under our terminaling services agreements are accounted for as lease revenue in accordance with ASC 842. The remaining firm commitments under our terminaling services agreements not accounted for as lease revenue are accounted for in accordance with ASC 606, where the minimum payment arrangement in each contract is considered a single performance obligation that is primarily satisfied over time through the contract term. Revenue recognized in excess of firm commitments and revenue recognized based solely on the volume of product distributed or injected are referred to as ancillary. The ancillary revenue associated with terminaling services include volumes of product throughput that exceed the contractually established minimum volumes, injection fees based on the volume of product injected with additive compounds, heating and mixing of stored products, product transfer, railcar handling, butane blending, proceeds from the sale of product gains, wharfage and vapor recovery. The revenue generated by these services is required to be estimated under ASC 606 for any uncertainty that is not resolved in the period of the service. We account for the majority of ancillary revenue at individual points in time when the services are delivered to the customer. The majority of our ancillary revenue is recognized in accordance with ASC 606 (See Note 15 of Notes to consolidated financial statements). Management fees. We manage and operate certain tank capacity at our Port Everglades South terminal for a major oil company and receive a reimbursement of its proportionate share of operating and maintenance costs. We manage and operate the Frontera joint venture and receive a management fee based on our costs incurred. We lease land under operating leases as the lessor or sublessor with third parties and affiliates. We manage and operate rail sites at certain Southeast terminals on behalf of a major oil company and receive reimbursement for operating and maintenance costs. We manage and operate SeaPort Midstream and receive a management fee based on our costs incurred. We also manage additional terminal facilities that are owned by affiliates of ArcLight, including Lucknow-Highspire Terminals, LLC, which operates terminals throughout Pennsylvania encompassing approximately 9.9 million barrels of storage capacity and we receive a management fee based on our costs incurred. Management fee revenue is recognized at individual points in time as the services are performed or as the costs are incurred and is primarily accounted for in accordance with ASC 606. Management fees related to lease revenue are accounted for in accordance with ASC 842. Pipeline transportation fees. We earned pipeline transportation fees at our Diamondback pipeline under a capacity reservation agreement that ended on May 26, 2021. Revenue associated with the capacity reservation agreement was recognized ratably over the respective term, regardless of whether the capacity was utilized. Product sales. Our product sales revenue refers to the sale of refined and renewable products at our terminal operations in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. Product sales revenue pricing is contractually specified, and we have determined that each transaction represents a separate performance obligation. Product sales revenue is recognized at a point in time when our customers take control and legal title of the commodities purchased. Product sales revenue is recorded gross of cost of product sales, which includes product supply and transportation costs, as we are responsible for fulfilling the promise in the sales contract and maintain inventory risk. Product sales revenue is accounted for in accordance with ASC 606. (d) Cash and cash equivalents We consider all short-term investments with a remaining maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. (e) Inventory Inventory represents refined and renewable products held for resale and are recorded at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined by using the average cost method. At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, our refined products inventory was approximately $9.7 million and $2.8 million, respectively. At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, our renewable products inventory was approximately $2.9 million and $2.5 million, respectively. We did not recognize any adjustments to the lower of cost or net realizable value during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. (f) Property, plant and equipment Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method. Estimated useful lives are 15 to 25 years for terminals and pipelines and 3 to 25 years for furniture, fixtures and equipment. All items of property, plant and equipment are carried at cost. Expenditures that increase capacity or extend useful lives are capitalized. Repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred. We evaluate long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset group may not be recoverable based on expected undiscounted future cash flows attributable to that asset group. If an asset group is impaired, the impairment loss to be recognized is the excess of the carrying amount of the asset group over its estimated fair value. We did not recognize any impairment charges during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. (g) Investments in unconsolidated affiliates We account for our investments in unconsolidated affiliates, which we do not control but do have the ability to exercise significant influence over, using the equity method of accounting. Under this method, the investment is recorded at acquisition cost, increased by our proportionate share of any earnings and additional capital contributions and decreased by our proportionate share of any losses, distributions received and amortization of any excess investment. Excess investment is the amount by which our total investment exceeds our proportionate share of the book value of the net assets of the investment entity. We evaluate our investments in unconsolidated affiliates for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate there is a loss in value of the investment that is other than temporary. In the event of impairment, we would record a charge to earnings to adjust the carrying amount to estimated fair value. We did not recognize any impairment charges during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. (h) Environmental obligations We accrue for environmental costs that relate to existing conditions caused by past operations when probable and reasonably estimable (See Note 10 of Notes to consolidated financial statements). Environmental costs include initial site surveys and environmental studies of potentially contaminated sites, costs for remediation and restoration of sites determined to be contaminated and ongoing monitoring costs, as well as fines, damages and other costs, including direct legal costs. Liabilities for environmental costs at a specific site are initially recorded, on an undiscounted basis, when it is probable that we will be liable for such costs, and a reasonable estimate of the associated costs can be made based on available information. Such an estimate includes our share of the liability for each specific site and the sharing of the amounts related to each site that will not be paid by other potentially responsible parties, based on enacted laws and adopted regulations and policies. Adjustments to initial estimates are recorded, from time to time, to reflect changing circumstances and estimates based upon additional information developed in subsequent periods. Estimates of our ultimate liabilities associated with environmental costs are difficult to make with certainty due to the number of variables involved, including the early stage of investigation at certain sites, the lengthy time frames required to complete remediation, technology changes, alternatives available and the evolving nature of environmental laws and regulations. We periodically file claims for insurance recoveries of certain environmental remediation costs with our insurance carriers under our comprehensive liability policies (See Note 5 of Notes to consolidated financial statements). In connection with our acquisition of the Florida, Midwest, Brownsville, Texas, River and Southeast terminals and facilities, a third party agreed to indemnify us against certain potential environmental claims, losses and expenses. Based on our current knowledge, we expect that the active remediation projects subject to the benefit of this indemnification obligation are winding down and will not involve material additional claims, losses, and expenses. (i) Asset retirement obligations Asset retirement obligations are legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development or normal use of the asset. GAAP requires that the fair value of a liability related to the retirement of long-lived assets be recorded at the time a legal obligation is incurred. Once an asset retirement obligation is identified and a liability is recorded, a corresponding asset is recorded, which is depreciated over the remaining useful life of the asset. After the initial measurement, the liability is adjusted to reflect changes in the asset retirement obligation. If and when it is determined that a legal obligation has been incurred, the fair value of any liability is determined based on estimates and assumptions related to retirement costs, future inflation rates and interest rates. Our long-lived assets consist of above-ground storage facilities and underground pipelines. We are unable to predict if and when these long-lived assets will become completely obsolete and require dismantlement. We have not recorded an asset retirement obligation, or corresponding asset, because the future dismantlement and removal dates of our long-lived assets is indeterminable and the amount of any associated costs are believed to be insignificant. Changes in our assumptions and estimates may occur as a result of the passage of time and the occurrence of future events. (j) Accounting for derivative instruments Generally accepted accounting principles require us to recognize all derivative instruments at fair value in the consolidated balance sheets as assets or liabilities (See Notes 5 and 9 of Notes to consolidated financial statements). Changes in the fair value of our derivative instruments are recognized in the consolidated statements of operations. At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, our derivative instruments were limited to interest rate swap agreements with an aggregate notional amount of $500 million and $nil, respectively. Pursuant to the terms of the current interest rate swap agreements that expire August 18, 2025, we pay a blended fixed rate of approximately 2.87% and receive interest payments based on the one-month LIBOR through July 17, 2023. Thereafter, we will receive interest payments based on the one-month CME Term SOFR. The net difference to be paid or received under the interest rate swap agreements will be settled monthly and recognized as an adjustment to interest expense. The fair value of our interest rate swap agreements are determined using a pricing model based on the LIBOR swap rate and other observable market data. (k) Income taxes No provision for U.S. federal income taxes has been reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements because we are treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, all income, gains, losses, expenses, deductions and tax credits generated by us flow up to our owners. (l) Comprehensive income Entities that report items of other comprehensive income have the option to present the components of net earnings and comprehensive income in either one continuous financial statement, or two consecutive financial statements. As we have no components of comprehensive income other than net earnings, no statement of comprehensive income has been presented. (m) Recent accounting pronouncements In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform—Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. Further, in January 2021, the FASB issued Update No. 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848), which clarifies the scope of Topic 848 so that derivatives affected by the discounting transition are explicitly eligible for certain optional expedients and exceptions in Topic 848. This ASU provides temporary optional expedients and exceptions to GAAP guidance on contract modifications and hedge accounting to ease the financial reporting burdens of the expected market transition from LIBOR and other interbank offered rates to alternative reference rates, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). Entities can elect not to apply certain modification accounting requirements to contracts affected by this reference rate reform, if certain criteria are met. An entity that makes this election would not have to re-measure the contracts at the modification date or reassess a previous accounting determination. Entities can also elect various optional expedients that would allow them to continue applying hedge accounting for hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform, if certain criteria are met. The guidance is effective upon issuance and generally can be applied through December 31, 2022. We are currently reviewing the effect of this ASU on our financial statements.

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(1) SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(a) Nature of business

TransMontaigne Partners LLC (“we,” “us,” “our,” “the Company”) provides integrated terminaling, storage, transportation and related services for companies engaged in the trading, distribution and marketing of light refined petroleum products, heavy refined petroleum products, renewable products, crude oil, chemicals, fertilizers and other liquid products. We conduct our operations in the United States along the Gulf Coast, in the Midwest, in Houston and Brownsville, Texas, along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, in the Southeast and along the West Coast. In addition, we sell refined and renewable products to major fuel producers and marketers in the Pacific Northwest at our terminal operations in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington.

On November 17, 2021, Arclight contributed Pike West Coast Holdings, LLC (“Pike West Coast”) a portfolio company of ArcLight Energy Partners Fund VI, L.P. to the Company. Pike West Coast is an infrastructure company with significant operations across the renewable fuels supply chain in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (the “Pacific Northwest Contribution”).

Pike West Coast owns a 100% ownership interest in SeaPort Financing, LLC. SeaPort Financing, LLC owns a 100% ownership interest in SeaPort Sound Terminal, LLC, which owns a refined and renewable products terminal in Tacoma, Washington; a 51% ownership interest in SeaPort Midstream Partners, LLC (“Seaport Midstream”), which owns refined and renewable products terminals in both Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon; and a 30% ownership interest in Olympic Pipeline Company, LLC (“Olympic Pipeline Company”), which owns the 400-mile Olympic Pipeline between Blaine, Washington and Portland, Oregon, and a refined and renewable products terminal in Bayview, Washington.

The Pacific Northwest Contribution has been recorded at carryover basis as a reorganization of entities under common control. As such, prior periods include the assets, liabilities, and results of operations of the Pacific Northwest Contribution for all periods presented (See Note 3 of Notes to consolidated financial statements).

(b) Basis of presentation and use of estimates

Our accounting and financial reporting policies conform to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of TransMontaigne Partners LLC and its controlled subsidiaries. Investments where we do not have the ability to exercise control, but do have the ability to exercise significant influence, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The accompanying consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (consisting of normal and recurring accruals) considered necessary to present fairly our financial position as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 and our results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. In management’s opinion, the estimate of useful lives of our plant and equipment are subjective in nature, require the exercise of judgment and involve complex analyses. Changes in these estimates and assumptions will occur as a result of the passage of time and the occurrence of future events. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

(c) Accounting for terminal and pipeline operations

We generate revenue from terminaling services fees, management fees, pipeline transportation fees and product sales. Under Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”) and Topic 842, Leases and the series of related Accounting Standards Updates that followed (collectively referred to as “ASC 842”), we recognize revenue over time or at a point in time, depending on the nature of the performance obligations contained in the respective contract with our customer. The contract transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. The following is an overview of our significant revenue streams, including a description of the respective performance obligations and related method of revenue recognition.

Terminaling services fees. Our terminaling services agreements are structured as either throughput agreements or storage agreements. Our throughput agreements contain provisions that require our customers to make minimum payments, which are based on contractually established minimum volumes of throughput of the customer’s product at our facilities, over a stipulated period of time. Due to this minimum payment arrangement, we recognize a fixed amount of revenue from the customer over a certain period of time, even if the customer throughputs less than the minimum volume of product during that period. In addition, if a customer throughputs a volume of product exceeding the minimum volume, we would recognize additional revenue on this incremental volume. Our storage agreements require our customers to make minimum payments based on the volume of storage capacity available to the customer under the agreement, which results in a fixed amount of recognized revenue. We refer to the fixed amount of revenue recognized pursuant to our terminaling services agreements as being “firm commitments.”

Our terminaling services agreements include revenue recognized in accordance with ASC 606 and ASC 842. At the time of contract inception, we evaluate each contract to determine whether the contract contains a lease. Significant assumptions used in this process include the determination of whether substantive substitution rights exist based on the terms of the contract and available capacity at the terminal at the time of contract inception. Our terminaling services agreements do not allow our customers to purchase the underlying asset and vary in terms and conditions with respect to extension or termination options. If a contract is accounted for as a lease under ASC 842, we recognize the minimum payments as lease revenue and revenue recognized in excess of firm commitments as a variable payment of the lease. All other components of the contracts accounted for as a lease are treated as non-lease components (ancillary revenue) and are accounted for in accordance with ASC 606. The majority of our firm commitments under our terminaling services agreements are accounted for as lease revenue in accordance with ASC 842. The remaining firm commitments under our terminaling services agreements not accounted for as lease revenue are accounted for in accordance with ASC 606, where the minimum payment arrangement in each contract is considered a single performance obligation that is primarily satisfied over time through the contract term.

Revenue recognized in excess of firm commitments and revenue recognized based solely on the volume of product distributed or injected are referred to as ancillary. The ancillary revenue associated with terminaling services include volumes of product throughput that exceed the contractually established minimum volumes, injection fees based on the volume of product injected with additive compounds, heating and mixing of stored products, product transfer, railcar handling, butane blending, proceeds from the sale of product gains, wharfage and vapor recovery. The revenue generated by these services is required to be estimated under ASC 606 for any uncertainty that is not resolved in the period of the service. We account for the majority of ancillary revenue at individual points in time when the services are delivered to the customer. The majority of our ancillary revenue is recognized in accordance with ASC 606 (See Note 15 of Notes to consolidated financial statements).

Management fees. We manage and operate certain tank capacity at our Port Everglades South terminal for a major oil company and receive a reimbursement of its proportionate share of operating and maintenance costs. We manage and operate the Frontera joint venture and receive a management fee based on our costs incurred. We lease land under operating leases as the lessor or sublessor with third parties and affiliates. We manage and operate rail sites at certain Southeast terminals on behalf of a major oil company and receive reimbursement for operating and maintenance costs. We manage and operate SeaPort Midstream and receive a management fee based on our costs incurred. We also

manage additional terminal facilities that are owned by affiliates of ArcLight, including Lucknow-Highspire Terminals, LLC, which operates terminals throughout Pennsylvania encompassing approximately 9.9 million barrels of storage capacity and we receive a management fee based on our costs incurred.

Management fee revenue is recognized at individual points in time as the services are performed or as the costs are incurred and is primarily accounted for in accordance with ASC 606. Management fees related to lease revenue are accounted for in accordance with ASC 842.

Pipeline transportation fees. We earned pipeline transportation fees at our Diamondback pipeline under a capacity reservation agreement that ended on May 26, 2021. Revenue associated with the capacity reservation agreement was recognized ratably over the respective term, regardless of whether the capacity was utilized.

Product sales. Our product sales revenue refers to the sale of refined and renewable products at our terminal operations in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. Product sales revenue pricing is contractually specified, and we have determined that each transaction represents a separate performance obligation. Product sales revenue is recognized at a point in time when our customers take control and legal title of the commodities purchased. Product sales revenue is recorded gross of cost of product sales, which includes product supply and transportation costs, as we are responsible for fulfilling the promise in the sales contract and maintain inventory risk. Product sales revenue is accounted for in accordance with ASC 606.

(d) Cash and cash equivalents

We consider all short-term investments with a remaining maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

(e) Inventory

Inventory represents refined and renewable products held for resale and are recorded at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined by using the average cost method. At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, our refined products inventory was approximately $9.7 million and $2.8 million, respectively. At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, our renewable products inventory was approximately $2.9 million and $2.5 million, respectively. We did not recognize any adjustments to the lower of cost or net realizable value during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021.

(f) Property, plant and equipment

Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method. Estimated useful lives are 15 to 25 years for terminals and pipelines and 3 to 25 years for furniture, fixtures and equipment. All items of property, plant and equipment are carried at cost. Expenditures that increase capacity or extend useful lives are capitalized. Repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred.

We evaluate long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset group may not be recoverable based on expected undiscounted future cash flows attributable to that asset group. If an asset group is impaired, the impairment loss to be recognized is the excess of the carrying amount of the asset group over its estimated fair value. We did not recognize any impairment charges during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021.

(g) Investments in unconsolidated affiliates

We account for our investments in unconsolidated affiliates, which we do not control but do have the ability to exercise significant influence over, using the equity method of accounting. Under this method, the investment is recorded at acquisition cost, increased by our proportionate share of any earnings and additional capital contributions and decreased by our proportionate share of any losses, distributions received and amortization of any excess investment. Excess investment is the amount by which our total investment exceeds our proportionate share of the book value of the net assets of the investment entity. We evaluate our investments in unconsolidated affiliates for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate there is a loss in value of the investment that is other than temporary. In the event of impairment, we would record a charge to earnings to adjust the carrying amount to estimated fair value. We did not recognize any impairment charges during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021.

(h) Environmental obligations

We accrue for environmental costs that relate to existing conditions caused by past operations when probable and reasonably estimable (See Note 10 of Notes to consolidated financial statements). Environmental costs include initial site surveys and environmental studies of potentially contaminated sites, costs for remediation and restoration of sites determined to be contaminated and ongoing monitoring costs, as well as fines, damages and other costs, including direct legal costs. Liabilities for environmental costs at a specific site are initially recorded, on an undiscounted basis, when it is probable that we will be liable for such costs, and a reasonable estimate of the associated costs can be made based on available information. Such an estimate includes our share of the liability for each specific site and the sharing of the amounts related to each site that will not be paid by other potentially responsible parties, based on enacted laws and adopted regulations and policies. Adjustments to initial estimates are recorded, from time to time, to reflect changing circumstances and estimates based upon additional information developed in subsequent periods. Estimates of our ultimate liabilities associated with environmental costs are difficult to make with certainty due to the number of variables involved, including the early stage of investigation at certain sites, the lengthy time frames required to complete remediation, technology changes, alternatives available and the evolving nature of environmental laws and regulations. We periodically file claims for insurance recoveries of certain environmental remediation costs with our insurance carriers under our comprehensive liability policies (See Note 5 of Notes to consolidated financial statements).

In connection with our acquisition of the Florida, Midwest, Brownsville, Texas, River and Southeast terminals and facilities, a third party agreed to indemnify us against certain potential environmental claims, losses and expenses. Based on our current knowledge, we expect that the active remediation projects subject to the benefit of this indemnification obligation are winding down and will not involve material additional claims, losses, and expenses.

(i) Asset retirement obligations

Asset retirement obligations are legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development or normal use of the asset. GAAP requires that the fair value of a liability related to the retirement of long-lived assets be recorded at the time a legal obligation is incurred. Once an asset retirement obligation is identified and a liability is recorded, a corresponding asset is recorded, which is depreciated over the remaining useful life of the asset. After the initial measurement, the liability is adjusted to reflect changes in the asset retirement obligation. If and when it is determined that a legal obligation has been incurred, the fair value of any liability is determined based on estimates and assumptions related to retirement costs, future inflation rates and interest rates. Our long-lived assets consist of above-ground storage facilities and underground pipelines. We are unable to predict if and when these long-lived assets will become completely obsolete and require dismantlement. We have not recorded an asset retirement obligation, or corresponding asset, because the future dismantlement and removal dates of our long-lived assets is indeterminable and the amount of any associated costs are believed to be insignificant. Changes in our assumptions and estimates may occur as a result of the passage of time and the occurrence of future events.

(j) Accounting for derivative instruments

Generally accepted accounting principles require us to recognize all derivative instruments at fair value in the consolidated balance sheets as assets or liabilities (See Notes 5 and 9 of Notes to consolidated financial statements). Changes in the fair value of our derivative instruments are recognized in the consolidated statements of operations.

At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, our derivative instruments were limited to interest rate swap agreements with an aggregate notional amount of $500 million and $nil, respectively. Pursuant to the terms of the current interest rate swap agreements that expire August 18, 2025, we pay a blended fixed rate of approximately 2.87% and receive interest payments based on the one-month LIBOR through July 17, 2023. Thereafter, we will receive interest payments based on the one-month CME Term SOFR. The net difference to be paid or received under the interest rate swap agreements will be settled monthly and recognized as an adjustment to interest expense. The fair value of our interest rate swap agreements are determined using a pricing model based on the LIBOR swap rate and other observable market data.

(k) Income taxes

No provision for U.S. federal income taxes has been reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements because we are treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, all income, gains, losses, expenses, deductions and tax credits generated by us flow up to our owners.

(l) Comprehensive income

Entities that report items of other comprehensive income have the option to present the components of net earnings and comprehensive income in either one continuous financial statement, or two consecutive financial statements. As we have no components of comprehensive income other than net earnings, no statement of comprehensive income has been presented.

(m) Recent accounting pronouncements

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform—Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. Further, in January 2021, the FASB issued Update No. 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848), which clarifies the scope of Topic 848 so that derivatives affected by the discounting transition are explicitly eligible for certain optional expedients and exceptions in Topic 848. This ASU provides temporary optional expedients and exceptions to GAAP guidance on contract modifications and hedge accounting to ease the financial reporting burdens of the expected market transition from LIBOR and other interbank offered rates to alternative reference rates, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). Entities can elect not to apply certain modification accounting requirements to contracts affected by this reference rate reform, if certain criteria are met. An entity that makes this election would not have to re-measure the contracts at the modification date or reassess a previous accounting determination. Entities can also elect various optional expedients that would allow them to continue applying hedge accounting for hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform, if certain criteria are met. The guidance is effective upon issuance and generally can be applied through December 31, 2022. We are currently reviewing the effect of this ASU on our financial statements.