Commitments and Contingencies | ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS Our environmental matters are described in Note 20 Commitments and Contingencies of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following table summarizes information concerning our recorded liabilities for environmental costs: Balance at December 31, 2020 $ 660 Accruals for environmental matters deemed probable and reasonably estimable 83 Environmental liability payments (112) Other 1 Balance at June 30, 2021 $ 632 Environmental liabilities are included in the following balance sheet accounts: June 30, 2021 December 31, 2020 Accrued liabilities $ 225 $ 225 Other liabilities 407 435 $ 632 $ 660 The Company does 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, the Company does not expect that environmental matters will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position. In conjunction with the Resideo Technologies, Inc. (Resideo) spin-off, the Company entered into an indemnification and reimbursement agreement with a Resideo subsidiary, pursuant to which Resideo’s subsidiary has an ongoing obligation to make cash payments to Honeywell in amounts equal to 90% of Honeywell’s annual net spending for environmental matters at certain sites as defined in the agreement. The amount payable to Honeywell in any given year is subject to a cap of $140 million, and the obligation will continue until the earlier of December 31, 2043, or December 31, of the third consecutive year during which the annual payment obligation is less than $25 million. Reimbursements associated with this agreement are collected from Resideo quarterly and were $35 million and $70 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, and offset operating cash outflows incurred by the Company. As the Company incurs costs for environmental matters deemed probable and reasonably estimable related to the sites covered by the indemnification and reimbursement agreement, a corresponding receivable from Resideo for 90% of such costs is also recorded. This receivable amount recorded in the six months ended June 30, 2021, was $72 million. As of June 30, 2021, Other current assets and Other assets included $140 million and $453 million, respectively, for the short-term and long-term portion of the receivable amount due from Resideo under the indemnification and reimbursement agreement. ASBESTOS MATTERS Honeywell is named in asbestos-related personal injury claims related to North American Refractories Company (NARCO), which was sold in 1986, and the Bendix Friction Materials (Bendix) business, which was sold in 2014. The following tables summarize information concerning NARCO and Bendix asbestos-related balances: ASBESTOS-RELATED LIABILITIES Bendix NARCO Total December 31, 2020 $ 1,441 $ 779 $ 2,220 Accrual for update to estimated liability 24 14 38 Asbestos-related liability payments (71) (68) (139) June 30, 2021 $ 1,394 $ 725 $ 2,119 INSURANCE RECOVERIES FOR ASBESTOS-RELATED LIABILITIES Bendix NARCO Total December 31, 2020 $ 148 $ 254 $ 402 Probable insurance recoveries related to estimated liability — — — Insurance receipts for asbestos-related liabilities (8) (17) (25) Insurance receivables settlements — — — June 30, 2021 $ 140 $ 237 $ 377 NARCO and Bendix asbestos-related balances are included in the following balance sheet accounts: June 30, 2021 December 31, 2020 Other current assets $ 35 $ 36 Insurance recoveries for asbestos-related liabilities 342 366 $ 377 $ 402 Accrued liabilities $ 300 $ 300 Asbestos-related liabilities 1,819 1,920 $ 2,119 $ 2,220 NARCO Products – NARCO manufactured high-grade, heat-resistant, refractory products for various industries. Honeywell’s predecessor, Allied Corporation, owned NARCO from 1979 to 1986. Allied Corporation sold the NARCO business in 1986 and entered into a cross-indemnity agreement which included an obligation to indemnify the purchaser for asbestos claims. Such claims arise primarily from alleged occupational exposure to asbestos-containing refractory brick and mortar for high-temperature applications. NARCO ceased manufacturing these products in 1980 and ultimately filed for bankruptcy in January 2002, at which point in time all then current and future NARCO asbestos claims were stayed against both NARCO and Honeywell pending the reorganization of NARCO. The Company established its initial liability for NARCO asbestos claims in 2002. NARCO emerged from bankruptcy in April 2013, at which time a federally authorized 524(g) trust was established to evaluate and resolve all existing NARCO asbestos claims (the Trust). 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 Trust. The NARCO Trust Agreement (TA) and the NARCO Trust Distribution Procedures (TDP) are the principal documents setting forth the structure of the Trust, establishing Honeywell’s evergreen funding obligations and the material operating rules for the Trust. Per the TA, the Trust is eligible to receive cash dividends from Harbison-Walker International Inc. (HWI), the reorganized and renamed entity that emerged, fully operational, from the NARCO bankruptcy. The cash dividends are required to be used to pay claims which qualify for payment under the TDP (Annual Contribution Claims) until those funds are exhausted, at which point Honeywell’s funding obligation is triggered. Honeywell's funding obligation, together with any HWI dividends used to pay claims, is subject to an annual cap of $145 million. In July 2021, HWI paid a dividend of $47 million to the NARCO Trust. The Company is also required to fund amounts owed pursuant to settlement agreements reached during the pendency of the NARCO bankruptcy proceedings that provide for the right to submit claims to the Trust subject to qualification under the terms of the settlement agreements and TDP (Pre-Established Unliquidated Claims), as well as fund the annual operating costs of the Trust. The operating rules per the TDP include Honeywell’s audit rights and the criteria claimants must meet for a claim to be considered valid and paid, which include adequate medical evidence of the claimant’s asbestos-related condition and credible evidence of exposure to a specific NARCO asbestos-containing product. Once operational in 2014, the Trust began to receive, process and pay claims, at which point the Company began to assert its audit rights to review and monitor the claims processor’s adherence to the established requirements of the TDP. While doing so, the Company identified several issues with the way the Trust was adhering to the TDP and the Company continues to identify and dispute these matters as further claims are processed. Although the Company is attempting to resolve instances where it believes the Trust is not processing claims in accordance with the established TDP, the Company reserves the right to seek judicial intervention should it fail to resolve the disputed issues. Due to the bankruptcy filing in 2002, claimants were not permitted to file additional claims until the Trust became operative in 2014. As a consequence, there was a large backlog of claims that were filed with the Trust upon becoming operative through December 31, 2017, the date by which these claims had to be filed or else be barred by the statute of limitations (subject to tolling exceptions in the TDP). Therefore, the claims filing rate did not start to normalize until 2018 and thereafter. As a result, between 2002 and 2018, the Company lacked a history of sufficiently reliable claims data to derive a reasonable estimate of its NARCO asbestos-related liability, and the Company continued to update its original estimate, as appropriate, using all available information. In 2020, with three years of sufficiently reliable claims data, the Company updated its estimate of the NARCO asbestos-related liability utilizing claims data from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020. The Company utilized an asbestos liability valuation specialist to support our preparation of the NARCO asbestos-related liability estimates. Our estimates, which involve significant management judgment, include consideration of multiple scenarios, including a scenario adjusting for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Trust's ability to process claims during 2020. The estimate for the resolution of asserted Annual Contribution Claims and Pre-Established Unliquidated Claims uses average payment values for the relevant historical period. For unasserted claims, the estimate is based on historic and anticipated claims filing experience and payment rates, disease classifications and type of claim, and average payment values by the Trust for the relevant historical period. The Company's estimate also includes all years of epidemiological disease projection through 2059. The NARCO asbestos-related liability reflects an estimate for the resolution of Annual Contribution Claims and Pre-Established Unliquidated Claims filed with the Trust, as well as for unasserted Annual Contribution Claims and Pre-Established Unliquidated Claims. The NARCO asbestos liability excludes the annual operating expenses of the Trust which are expensed as they are incurred. The Company's NARCO-related insurance receivable reflects coverage which reimburses Honeywell for portions of NARCO-related claims and defense costs. This coverage 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. Honeywell's NARCO-related insurance receivable is an estimate of the probable amount of insurance that is recoverable for asbestos claims. Most of our insurance carriers remain solvent. However, select individual insurance carriers are now insolvent, which we have considered in our analysis of probable recoveries. Our judgments related to our insurance carriers and insurance coverages are reasonable and consistent with Honeywell's historical dealings and Honeywell's knowledge of any pertinent solvency issues surrounding insurers. Bendix Products – Bendix manufactured automotive brake linings 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 present information regarding Bendix-related asbestos claims activity: Six Months Ended Years Ended Claims Activity 2021 2020 2019 Claims unresolved at the beginning of period 6,242 6,480 6,209 Claims filed 1,205 2,233 2,659 Claims resolved (921) (2,471) (2,388) Claims unresolved at the end of period 6,526 6,242 6,480 June 30, December 31, Disease Distribution of Unresolved Claims 2021 2020 2019 Mesothelioma and other cancer claims 3,735 3,422 3,399 Nonmalignant claims 2,791 2,820 3,081 Total claims 6,526 6,242 6,480 Years Ended December 31, 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 (in whole dollars) Malignant claims $ 61,500 $ 50,200 $ 55,300 $ 56,000 $ 44,000 Nonmalignant claims $ 550 $ 3,900 $ 4,700 $ 2,800 $ 4,485 It is not possible to predict whether resolution values for Bendix-related asbestos claims will increase, decrease or stabilize in the future. The Consolidated Financial Statements reflect an estimated liability for resolution of asserted (claims filed as of the financial statement date) and unasserted Bendix-related asbestos claims, which exclude the Company’s ongoing legal fees to defend such asbestos claims which will continue to be expensed as they are incurred. The Company reflects the inclusion of all years of epidemiological disease projection through 2059 when estimating the liability for unasserted Bendix-related asbestos claims. Such liability for unasserted Bendix-related asbestos claims is based on historic and anticipated claims filing experience and dismissal rates, disease classifications, and resolution values in the tort system for the previous five years. The Company has valued Bendix asserted and unasserted claims using average resolution values for the previous five years. The Company updates the resolution values used to estimate the cost of Bendix asserted and unasserted claims during the fourth quarter each year. The Company's insurance receivable corresponding to the liability for settlement of asserted and unasserted 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. On October 31, 2018, David Kanefsky, a Honeywell shareholder, filed a putative class action complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 related to the prior accounting for Bendix asbestos claims. An Amended Complaint was filed on December 30, 2019, and on February 7, 2020, we filed a Motion to Dismiss. On May 18, 2020, the court denied our Motion to Dismiss. We believe the claims have no merit. GARRETT LITIGATION AND BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS In conjunction with the Garrett spin-off, the Company entered into a binding indemnification and reimbursement agreement (Garrett Indemnity) and a binding tax matters agreement (Tax Matters Agreement) with Garrett and a Garrett subsidiary. On December 2, 2019, Garrett and Garrett ASASCO Inc. filed a Summons with Notice and commenced a lawsuit in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York (the State Court), seeking to invalidate the Garrett Indemnity. Garrett sought damages and a declaratory judgment based on various claims set forth in the Summons with Notice. On July 17, 2020, the Company received a notice from Garrett asserting that the Company had caused material breaches of the Tax Matters Agreement and that the Tax Matters Agreement was unenforceable. On September 20, 2020, Garrett and 36 of its affiliates filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the Bankruptcy Court). On September 24, 2020, Garrett moved the existing State Court litigation against Honeywell to the Bankruptcy Court. On April 26, 2021, the Bankruptcy Court confirmed Garrett’s amended Chapter 11 plan of reorganization (the Confirmed Plan), and on April 30, 2021 (the Effective Date), Garrett emerged from bankruptcy. On the Effective Date, and in accordance with the Confirmed Plan, (i) the Company received from Garrett an initial payment of $375 million and 834.8 million shares of Garrett's Series B Preferred Stock in full and final satisfaction of the Garrett Indemnity and Tax Matters Agreement, (ii) the Garrett Indemnity and Tax Matters Agreement were terminated, (iii) the Company and Garrett mutually released each other from the claims asserted in all pending legal actions related to the Garrett Indemnity and Tax Matters Agreement, and (iv) all pending litigation between the Company and Garrett in connection with those agreements was resolved. The Series B Preferred Stock Certificate of Designation provides for mandatory redemptions by Garrett of $35 million in 2022 and $100 million per year from 2023 to 2030 (inclusive) at the anniversary of the Effective Date, unless (i) Garrett’s consolidated EBITDA as of the end of the most recently completed fiscal year is less than $425 million, or (ii) Garrett does not have sufficient funds available to pay the redemption, at which point the redemption amounts past due will accrue interest. The Series B Preferred Stock Certificate of Designation also includes rights which allow (a) the Company to put the Series B Preferred Stock to Garrett if certain EBITDA conditions are met, and (b) Garrett to call the Series B Preferred Stock in whole or in part if certain EBITDA conditions are met. We recorded the Series B Preferred Stock at fair value at the Effective Date. We believe the present value of the mandatory redemptions is an appropriate basis for determining the fair value of the Series B Preferred Stock. Our present value reflects amortized cost determined by the present value of the mandatory redemptions discounted at 7.25%, which is the rate reflected in the Series B Preferred Stock Certificate of Designation. The discount amount will accrete into interest income over the mandatory redemption period. In addition to the Series B Preferred Stock, the Company subscribed for 4.2 million shares of Garrett's Series A Preferred Stock (Series A Preferred Stock), which are convertible into Garrett’s Common Stock if certain conditions are met. Prior to and following Garrett’s emergence from bankruptcy, the Company also held 2.9 million shares of Garrett’s Common Stock. As of June 30, 2021, Short-term investments included $35 million and Investments and long-term receivables included $604 million, respectively, for the short-term and long-term portion of the Company's investment in Garrett's Series B Preferred Stock, Series A Preferred Stock and Common Stock investments. The Garrett matter and bankruptcy proceedings are described in further detail in Note 20 Commitments and Contingencies of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K. OTHER MATTERS The Company is 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 (including the matter described below). We recognize a liability for any contingency that is probable of occurrence and reasonably estimable. We continually assess the likelihood of adverse judgments or outcomes in such 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. Given the uncertainty inherent in litigation and investigations, we do not believe it is possible to develop estimates of reasonably possible losses in excess of current accruals for such matters. Considering our past experience and existing accruals, we do not expect the outcome of such 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 consolidated results of operations or operating cash flows in the periods recognized or paid. Petrobras and Unaoil – We have been cooperating with certain investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Brazilian authorities relating to our use of third parties who previously worked for our UOP business in Brazil in relation to Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras). The investigations are focused on compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar Brazilian laws, and involve, among other things, document production and interviews with former and current management and employees. The DOJ and the SEC are also examining a matter involving a foreign subsidiary’s prior engagement of Unaoil S.A.M. in Algeria. We have begun discussions with the authorities with respect to a potential resolution of these matters. As the discussions are ongoing, there can be no assurance as to whether we will reach a resolution with such authorities or as to the potential timing, terms, or collateral consequences of any such resolution. As a result, we cannot predict the outcome of these matters, the potential impact on the Company, or a reasonable estimate of losses or range of losses at this time. |