COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Note 14. Commitments and Contingencies

Environmental Matters

Our environmental matters are described in Note 19 Commitments and Contingencies of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following table summarizes information concerning our recorded liabilities for environmental costs:

December 31, 2017	$	595
Accruals for environmental matters deemed
probable and reasonably estimable		57
Environmental liability payments		(23)
Other		1
March 31, 2018	$	630

Environmental liabilities are included in the following balance sheet accounts:

			March 31,		December 31,
			2018		2017
	Accrued liabilities	$	226	$	226
	Other liabilities		404		369
		$	630	$	595

We do not currently possess sufficient information to reasonably estimate the amounts of environmental liabilities to be recorded upon future completion of studies, litigation or settlements, and neither the timing nor the amount of the ultimate costs associated with environmental matters can be determined although they could be material to our consolidated results of operations and operating cash flows in the periods recognized or paid. However, considering our past experience and existing reserves, we do not expect that environmental matters will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position.

Onondaga Lake, Syracuse, NY—In 2016, we largely completed a dredging/capping remedy of Onondaga Lake pursuant to a consent decree approved by the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York in January 2007. Some additional long-term monitoring and maintenance activities will continue, as required by the consent decree. Honeywell is also conducting remedial investigations and activities at other sites in Syracuse. We have recorded reserves for these investigations and activities where appropriate, consistent with the accounting policy described above. On March 14, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York entered a consent decree between Honeywell, the United States and the State of New York resolving the federal and state claims for natural resource damages at the Onondaga Lake Superfund Site.

Asbestos Matters

Honeywell is a defendant in asbestos related personal injury actions related to two predecessor companies:

North American Refractories Company (“NARCO”), which was sold in 1986, produced refractory products (bricks and cement used in high temperature applications). Claimants consist largely of individuals who allege exposure to NARCO asbestos-containing refractory products in an occupational setting.
Bendix Friction Materials (“Bendix”) business, which was sold in 2014, manufactured automotive brake parts that contained chrysotile asbestos in an encapsulated form. Claimants consist largely of individuals who allege exposure to asbestos from brakes from either performing or being in the vicinity of individuals who performed brake replacements.

The following tables summarize information concerning NARCO and Bendix asbestos related balances:

Asbestos Related Liabilities
		Bendix		NARCO		Total
December 31, 2017	$	616	$	907	$	1,523
Accrual for update to estimated liability		47		8		55
Asbestos related liability payments		(48)		(2)		(50)
March 31, 2018	$	615	$	913	$	1,528

Insurance Recoveries for Asbestos Related Liabilities
		Bendix		NARCO		Total
December 31, 2017	$	123	$	312	$	435
Probable insurance recoveries related to
estimated liability		4		-		4
Insurance receipts for asbestos related liabilities		(10)		(1)		(11)
March 31, 2018	$	117	$	311	$	428

NARCO and Bendix asbestos related balances are included in the following balance sheet accounts:

		March 31,		December 31,
		2018		2017
Other current assets	$	24	$	24
Insurance recoveries for asbestos related liabilities		404		411
	$	428	$	435

Accrued liabilities	$	350	$	350
Asbestos related liabilities		1,178		1,173
	$	1,528	$	1,523

NARCO Products –In connection with NARCO’s emergence from bankruptcy on April 30, 2013, a federally authorized 524(g) trust (NARCO Trust) was established for the evaluation and resolution of all existing and future NARCO asbestos claims. Both Honeywell and NARCO are protected by a permanent channeling injunction barring all present and future individual actions in state or federal courts and requiring all asbestos related claims based on exposure to NARCO asbestos-containing products to be made against the NARCO Trust. The NARCO Trust reviews submitted claims and determines award amounts in accordance with established Trust Distribution Procedures approved by the Bankruptcy Court which set forth the criteria claimants must meet to qualify for compensation including, among other things, exposure and medical criteria that determine the award amount. In addition, Honeywell provided, and continues to provide, input to the design of control procedures for processing NARCO claims, and has on-going audit rights to review and monitor the claims processor’s adherence to the established requirements of the Trust Distribution Procedures.

Honeywell is obligated to fund NARCO asbestos claims submitted to the NARCO Trust which qualify for payment under the Trust Distribution Procedures (Annual Contribution Claims), subject to annual caps of $140 million in 2018 and $145 million for each year thereafter. However, the initial $100 million of claims processed through the NARCO Trust (the Initial Claims Amount) will not count against the annual cap and any unused portion of the Initial Claims Amount will roll over to subsequent years until fully utilized. In 2015, Honeywell filed suit against the NARCO Trust in Bankruptcy Court alleging breach of certain provisions of the Trust Agreement and Trust Distribution Procedures. The parties agreed to dismiss the proceeding without prejudice pursuant to an 18 month Standstill Agreement. Claims processing continued during this period as the parties attempted to resolve disputed issues. The Standstill Agreement expired on October 12, 2017. Notwithstanding its expiration, claims processing continues, and Honeywell continues to negotiate and attempt to resolve remaining disputed issues (that is instances where Honeywell believes the Trust is not processing claims in accordance with established Trust Distribution Procedures). Honeywell reserves its right to seek judicial intervention should negotiations fail or prove futile. As of March 31, 2018, Honeywell has not made any payments to the NARCO Trust for Annual Contribution Claims.

Honeywell is also responsible for payments due to claimants pursuant to settlement agreements reached during the pendency of the NARCO bankruptcy proceedings that provide for the right to submit claims to the NARCO Trust subject to qualification under the terms of the settlement agreements and Trust Distribution Procedures criteria (Pre-established Unliquidated Claims), which amounts are estimated at $150 million and are expected to be paid during the initial years of trust operations ($5 million of which has been paid since the effective date of the NARCO Trust). Such payments are not subject to the annual cap described above.

Our consolidated financial statements reflect an estimated liability for Pre-established Unliquidated Claims ($145 million), as well as unsettled claims pending as of the time NARCO filed for bankruptcy protection and operating and legal costs related to the Trust (collectively $25 million) and for the estimated value of future NARCO asbestos claims expected to be asserted against the NARCO Trust ($743 million). The estimate of future NARCO claims was prepared in 2002, in the same year NARCO filed for bankruptcy protection, using NARCO tort system litigation experience based on a commonly accepted methodology used by numerous bankruptcy courts addressing 524(g) trusts. Accordingly, the estimated value of future NARCO asbestos claims was prepared before there was data on claims filings and payment rates in the NARCO Trust under the Trust Distribution Procedures and also prepared when the stay of all NARCO asbestos claims was in effect (which remained in effect until NARCO emerged from Bankruptcy protection). Some critical assumptions underlying this commonly accepted methodology included claims filing rates, disease criteria and payment values contained in the Trust Distribution Procedures, estimated approval rates of claims submitted to the NARCO Trust and epidemiological studies estimating disease instances. The estimated value of the future NARCO liability reflects claims expected to be asserted against NARCO over a fifteen year period. This projection resulted in a range of estimated liability of $743 million to $961 million. We believe that no amount within this range is a better estimate than any other amount and accordingly, we have recorded the minimum amount in the range. Given the Trust’s lack of sufficient claims processing experience since NARCO emerged from bankruptcy protection, it is not yet possible to reliably estimate future claim costs based on actual Trust experience.

Our insurance receivable corresponding to the estimated liability for pending and future NARCO asbestos claims reflects coverage which reimburses Honeywell for portions of NARCO-related indemnity and defense costs and is provided by a large number of insurance policies written by dozens of insurance companies in both the domestic insurance market and the London excess market. We conduct analyses to estimate the probable amount of insurance that is recoverable for asbestos claims. While the substantial majority of our insurance carriers are solvent, some of our individual carriers are insolvent, which has been considered in our analysis of probable recoveries. We made judgments concerning insurance coverage that we believe are reasonable and consistent with our historical dealings and our knowledge of any pertinent solvency issues surrounding insurers.

Projecting future events is subject to many uncertainties that could cause the NARCO-related asbestos liabilities or assets to be higher or lower than those projected and recorded. Given the uncertainties, we review our estimates periodically, and update them based on our experience and other relevant factors. Similarly, we will reevaluate our projections concerning our probable insurance recoveries in light of any changes to the projected liability or other developments that may impact insurance recoveries.

Bendix Products—The following tables present information regarding Bendix related asbestos claims activity:

	Three Months Ended	Years Ended
	March 31,	December 31,
Claims Activity	2018	2017	2016
Claims unresolved at the beginning of period	6,280	7,724	7,779
Claims filed	625	2,645	2,830
Claims resolved	(685)	(4,089)	(2,885)
Claims unresolved at the end of period	6,220	6,280	7,724

Disease Distribution of Unresolved Claims	March 31,	December 31,
	2018	2017	2016
Mesothelioma and other cancer claims	2,981	3,062	3,490
Nonmalignant claims	3,239	3,218	4,234
Total claims	6,220	6,280	7,724

	Honeywell has experienced average resolution values per claim excluding legal costs as follows:

			Years Ended December 31,
			2017		2016		2015		2014		2013
			(in whole dollars)
Malignant claims		$	56,000	$	44,000	$	44,000	$	53,500	$	51,000
Nonmalignant claims		$	2,800	$	4,485	$	100	$	120	$	850

It is not possible to predict whether resolution values for Bendix-related asbestos claims will increase, decrease or stabilize in the future.

Our consolidated financial statements reflect an estimated liability for resolution of pending (claims actually filed as of the financial statement date) and future Bendix-related asbestos claims. We have valued Bendix pending and future claims using average resolution values for the previous five years. We update the resolution values used to estimate the cost of Bendix pending and future claims during the fourth quarter each year.

The liability for future claims represents the estimated value of future asbestos related bodily injury claims expected to be asserted against Bendix over the next five years. Such estimated cost of future Bendix-related asbestos claims is based on historic claims filing experience and dismissal rates, disease classifications, and resolution values in the tort system for the previous five years. In light of the uncertainties inherent in making long-term projections, as well as certain factors unique to friction product asbestos claims, we do not believe that we have a reasonable basis for estimating asbestos claims beyond the next five years. The methodology used to estimate the liability for future claims is similar to that used to estimate the liability for future NARCO-related asbestos claims.

Our insurance receivable corresponding to the liability for settlement of pending and future Bendix asbestos claims reflects coverage which is provided by a large number of insurance policies written by dozens of insurance companies in both the domestic insurance market and the London excess market. Based on our ongoing analysis of the probable insurance recovery, insurance receivables are recorded in the financial statements simultaneous with the recording of the estimated liability for the underlying asbestos claims. This determination is based on our analysis of the underlying insurance policies, our historical experience with our insurers, our ongoing review of the solvency of our insurers, judicial determinations relevant to our insurance programs, and our consideration of the impacts of any settlements reached with our insurers.

Honeywell believes it has sufficient insurance coverage and reserves to cover all pending Bendix-related asbestos claims and Bendix-related asbestos claims estimated to be filed within the next five years. Although it is impossible to predict the outcome of either pending or future Bendix-related asbestos claims, we do not believe that such claims would have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position in light of our insurance coverage and our prior experience in resolving such claims. If the rate and types of claims filed, the average resolution value of such claims and the period of time over which claim settlements are paid (collectively, the Variable Claims Factors) do not substantially change, Honeywell would not expect future Bendix-related asbestos claims to have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or operating cash flows in any fiscal year. No assurances can be given, however, that the Variable Claims Factors will not change.

Other Matters

We are subject to a number of other lawsuits, investigations and disputes (some of which involve substantial amounts claimed) arising out of the conduct of our business, including matters relating to commercial transactions, government contracts, product liability, prior acquisitions and divestitures, employee benefit plans, intellectual property, and environmental, health and safety matters. We recognize a liability for any contingency that is probable of occurrence and reasonably estimable. We continually assess the likelihood of adverse judgments of outcomes in these matters, as well as potential ranges of possible losses (taking into consideration any insurance recoveries), based on a careful analysis of each matter with the assistance of outside legal counsel and, if applicable, other experts. Included in these other matters are the following:

Honeywell v. United Auto Workers (UAW) et. al—In September 2011, the UAW and certain Honeywell retirees (Plaintiffs) filed a suit in the Eastern District of Michigan (the District Court) alleging that a series of Master Collective Bargaining Agreements (MCBAs) between Honeywell and the UAW provided the retirees with rights to lifetime, vested healthcare benefits that could never be changed or reduced. Plaintiffs alleged that Honeywell had violated those vested rights by implementing express limitations (CAPS) on the amount Honeywell contributed toward healthcare coverage for the retirees. Honeywell subsequently answered the UAW’s complaint and asserted counterclaims, including for breach of implied warranty.

Between 2014 and 2015, Honeywell began enforcing the CAPS against former employees. In response, the UAW and certain of the Plaintiffs filed a motion seeking a ruling that the MCBAs do not limit Honeywell’s obligation to contribute to healthcare coverage for those retirees.

On March 29, 2018, the District Court issued its opinion resolving all pending summary judgment motions, except for Honeywell’s counterclaim for breach of implied warranty which remains outstanding.

In the opinion, the District Court held that the MCBAs do not promise retirees vested, lifetime benefits that survive expiration of the MCBAs. Based on this ruling, Honeywell has informed the UAW and the retirees that it intends to terminate their healthcare coverage benefits altogether as of July 31, 2018.

However, the District Court also held that Honeywell is obligated under the MCBAs to pay the “full premium” for retiree healthcare rather than the capped amount. Based on this ruling, Honeywell would be required to pay monetary damages to retirees for any past years in which Honeywell paid less than the “full premium” of their healthcare coverage. Such damages would be limited, depending on the retiree group, to a two to three year period ending when the 2017 MCBA went into effect, and Honeywell would have no ongoing obligation to continue funding healthcare coverage for subsequent periods. Honeywell has appealed the District Court’s ruling on this “full premium” damages issue, and it is confident that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will reverse the District Court on that issue. In the event the Sixth Circuit were to sustain the District Court’s ruling on this issue, Honeywell would be liable for damages of at least $12 million.

Given the uncertainty inherent in litigation and investigations (including the specific matter referenced above), we do not believe it is possible to develop estimates of reasonably possible loss in excess of current accruals for these matters (other than as specifically set forth above). Considering our past experience and existing accruals, we do not expect the outcome of these matters, either individually or in the aggregate, to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position. Because most contingencies are resolved over long periods of time, potential liabilities are subject to change due to new developments, changes in settlement strategy or the impact of evidentiary requirements, which could cause us to pay damage awards or settlements (or become subject to equitable remedies) that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or operating cash flows in the periods recognized or paid.