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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
Environmental and Legal Proceedings

The Company is subject to environmental and legal proceedings in the countries in which we operate. Accruals for contingent liabilities, such as environmental remediation costs, are recorded in the consolidated financial statements when it is probable that a liability has been incurred or an asset impaired and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. The Company has estimated some probable liability associated with environmental remediation matters that is immaterial in the aggregate as of March 31, 2024.

At the Company’s Mogi Guaçu mill, there are legacy basin areas that were formerly lagoons used for treatment of mill wastewater from pulp and paper manufacturing. In coordination with and in response to a request by the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (“CETESB”), which is the state environmental regulatory authority, there has been continuous regulatory monitoring and sampling of the former basins, which began prior to their closure in 2006, both to assess for contamination and evaluate whether additional remediation is needed beyond the basins’ ongoing natural vegetation growth. This monitoring and sampling detected metal contamination, with the main constituent of potential environmental impact being mercury. The Company has presented CETESB with proposals for studies and other actions to further assess the scope and type of contamination and the possible need for an additional remediation approach.

Additionally, in October 2022, CETESB requested that the Company expand its efforts to include providing CETESB with a proposed pilot intervention (remediation) plan for a portion of the former basins. The purpose of the pilot intervention plan is to facilitate determination of the appropriate actions to take for the basins generally, guided by the results of the pilot intervention plan in the subset portion of the basins. The Company submitted a proposed pilot intervention plan to CETESB and, in the fourth quarter of 2023 CETESB approved the pre-intervention stages of the pilot intervention plan and requested that some additional measures be added to the plan. In the first quarter of 2024, the Company submitted additional measures that were approved by CETESB.

As of March 31, 2024, the Company has recorded an immaterial liability for the ongoing and additional environmental studies and sampling of the basins. While this matter could in the future have a material impact on our results of operations or cash flows, the Company is unable to estimate its potential additional liability because the further studies to be conducted and the remediation that may be required will depend on the results of the pilot intervention plan, the Company’s environmental studies assessing the existence of ecological risk due to the contamination and what intervention may be required beyond vegetation of the basins, the extent to which there is eventual risk of harm from the contamination, and CETESB’s approval of any ultimate intervention plan for the basins.

Taxes Other Than Payroll Taxes

See Note 11 Income Taxes for a discussion of a goodwill amortization tax matter in Brazil.

During the first quarter of 2024, the State of Sao Paulo issued a tax assessment to our Brazilian subsidiary for approximately $52 million regarding unpaid VAT arising from intercompany transactions. This assessment includes $21 million in tax and $31 million in interest and penalties. As of March 31, 2024, no reserve has been recorded by the Company because the risk of loss is not probable.
The Company reached an amnesty agreement with the Brazilian government related to certain VAT amounts assessed in prior years, which are unrelated to the 2024 tax assessment noted above. This agreement resulted in the recognition of $9 million of interest income during the first quarter of 2023.

We have other open tax matters awaiting resolution in Brazil, which are at various stages of review in various administrative and judicial proceedings. We routinely assess these tax matters for materiality and probability of loss or gain, and appropriate amounts have been recorded in our financial statements for any open items where the risk of loss is deemed probable. We currently do not consider any of these other tax matters to be material individually. However, it is reasonably possible that settlement of any of these matters concurrently could result in a material loss or that over time a matter could become material, for example, if interest were accruing on the amount at issue for a significant period of time. Also, future exchange rate fluctuations could be unfavorable to the U.S. dollar and significant enough to cause an open matter to become material. The expected timing for resolution of these open matters ranges from one year to ten years.

General

The Company is involved in various other inquiries, administrative proceedings and litigation relating to environmental and safety matters, taxes (including VAT), personal injury, product liability, labor and employment, contracts, sales of property and other matters, some of which allege substantial monetary damages. Assessments of lawsuits and claims can involve a series of complex judgments about future events, can rely heavily on estimates and assumptions, and are otherwise subject to significant uncertainties. As a result, there can be no certainty that the Company will not ultimately incur charges in excess of presently recorded liabilities. The Company believes that loss contingencies arising from pending matters, including the matters described herein, will not have a material effect on the consolidated financial position or liquidity of the Company. However, in light of the inherent uncertainties involved in pending or threatened legal matters, some of which are beyond the Company's control, and the large or indeterminate damages sought in some of these matters, a future adverse ruling, settlement, unfavorable development, or increase in accruals with respect to these matters, could result in future charges that could be material to the Company's results of operations or cash flows in any particular reporting period.