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Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities  
Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities

2.    Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities

Liabilities for landfill and environmental remediation costs are presented in the table below (in millions):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 30, 2018

 

December 31, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

Environmental

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environmental

 

 

 

 

    

Landfill

    

Remediation

    

Total

    

Landfill

    

Remediation

    

Total

Current (in accrued liabilities)

 

$

131

 

$

27

 

$

158

 

$

128

 

$

28

 

$

156

Long-term

 

 

1,622

 

 

210

 

 

1,832

  

 

1,547

 

 

223

 

 

1,770

 

 

$

1,753

 

$

237

 

$

1,990

 

$

1,675

 

$

251

 

$

1,926

 

The changes to landfill and environmental remediation liabilities for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 are reflected in the table below (in millions):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environmental

 

    

Landfill

    

Remediation

December 31, 2017

 

$

1,675

 

$

251

Obligations incurred and capitalized

 

 

62

  

 

 —

Obligations settled

 

 

(71)

  

 

(18)

Interest accretion

 

 

71

  

 

 4

Revisions in estimates and interest rate assumptions (a) (b)

 

 

 7

  

 

 2

Acquisitions, divestitures and other adjustments

 

 

 9

  

 

(2)

September 30, 2018

 

$

1,753

 

$

237


(a)

The amount reported for our landfill liabilities includes an increase of $11 million due to the acceleration of the expected timing of capping activities for a landfill. See Note 10 for discussion of the impairment charge related to this landfill.

(b)

The amount reported for our environmental remediation liabilities includes the impact of an increase in the risk-free discount rate used to measure our liabilities from 2.5% at December 31, 2017 to 3.0% at September 30, 2018, resulting in a decrease of $5 million to our environmental remediation liabilities.

 

At several of our landfills, we provide financial assurance by depositing cash into restricted trust funds or escrow accounts for purposes of demonstrating our ability to meet our final capping, closure, post-closure and environmental remediation obligations. Generally, these trust funds are established to comply with statutory requirements and operating agreements. See Note 14 for additional information related to these trusts.