Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Contingencies

Contingencies

In the normal course of business, the Company is party to various commercial and legal claims, actions and complaints, including matters involving warranty claims, intellectual property claims, general liability and various other risks. It is not possible to predict with certainty whether or not the Company will ultimately be successful in any of these commercial and legal matters or, if not, what the impact might be.

The Company's environmental contingencies are discussed below. The Company's management does not expect that an adverse outcome in any of these other commercial and legal claims, actions and complaints will have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations, financial position or cash flows, although such adverse outcome could be material to the results of operations in a particular quarter.

Environmental

The Company and certain of its current and former direct and indirect corporate predecessors, subsidiaries and divisions have been identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and certain state environmental agencies and private parties as potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”) at various hazardous waste disposal sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“Superfund”) and equivalent state laws and, as such, may presently be liable for the cost of clean-up and other remedial activities at 14 such sites as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019. Responsibility for clean-up and other remedial activities at a Superfund site is typically shared among PRPs based on an allocation formula.

The Company believes that none of these matters, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on its results of operations, financial position or cash flows. Generally, this is because either the estimates of the maximum potential liability at a site are not material or the liability will be shared with other PRPs, although no assurance can be given with respect to the ultimate outcome of any such matter.

The Company had an accrual for environmental liabilities of $3 million as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019. This accrual is based on information available to the Company (which in most cases includes: an estimate of allocation of liability among PRPs; the probability that other PRPs, many of whom are large, solvent public companies, will fully pay the cost apportioned to them; currently available information from PRPs and/or federal or state environmental agencies concerning the scope of contamination and estimated remediation and consulting costs; and remediation alternatives).

Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Investigation

On July 31, 2018, the Division of Enforcement of the SEC informed the Company that it is conducting an investigation related to the Company's historical accounting for asbestos-related claims not yet asserted. The Company is fully cooperating with the SEC in connection with its investigation.