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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS Honeywell's environmental matters are described in Note 19 Commitments and Contingencies of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Company's 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following table summarizes information concerning the Company's recorded liabilities for environmental costs:
Balance at December 31, 2023 | $ | 641 |
Accruals for environmental matters deemed probable and reasonably estimable | 82 |
Environmental liability payments | (61) |
Balance at March 31, 2024 | $ | 662 |
Environmental liabilities are included in the following balance sheet accounts:
| March 31, 2024 |  | December 31, 2023
Accrued liabilities | $ | 228 |  |  | $ | 227 |
Other liabilities | 434 |  |  | 414 |
Total environmental liabilities | $ | 662 |  |  | $ | 641 |
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 the Company's consolidated results of operations and operating cash flows in the periods recognized or paid. However, considering the Company's 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 in the three months ended March 31, 2024, 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 three months ended March 31, 2024, was $59 million. As of March 31, 2024, Other current assets and Other assets included $140 million and $545 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, 2023 | $ | 1,644 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 1,644 |
Accrual for update to estimated liability | 10 |  |  | — |  |  | 10 |
Change in estimated cost of future claims | 5 |  |  | — |  |  | 5 |
Asbestos-related liability payments | (55) |  |  | — |  |  | (55) |
March 31, 2024 | $ | 1,604 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | 1,604 |
INSURANCE RECOVERIES FOR ASBESTOS-RELATED LIABILITIES
| Bendix |  | NARCO |  | Total
December 31, 2023 | $ | 123 |  |  | $ | 88 |  |  | $ | 211 |
Probable insurance recoveries related to estimated liability | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Insurance receipts for asbestos-related liabilities | (3) |  |  | (3) |  |  | (6) |
March 31, 2024 | $ | 120 |  |  | $ | 85 |  |  | $ | 205 |
NARCO and Bendix asbestos-related balances are included in the following balance sheet accounts:
| March 31, 2024 |  | December 31, 2023
Other current assets | $ | 41 |  |  | $ | 41 |
Insurance recoveries for asbestos-related liabilities | 164 |  |  | 170 |
Total insurance recoveries for asbestos-related liabilities | $ | 205 |  |  | $ | 211 |
Accrued liabilities | $ | 137 |  |  | $ | 154 |
Asbestos-related liabilities | 1,467 |  |  | 1,490 |
Total asbestos-related liabilities | $ | 1,604 |  |  | $ | 1,644 |
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, arising primarily from alleged occupational exposure to asbestos-containing refractory brick and mortar for high-temperature applications. NARCO ceased manufacturing these products in 1980 and 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 (Channeling Injunction). The NARCO Trust Agreement (TA) and the NARCO Trust Distribution Procedures (TDP) set forth the structure and operating rules of the Trust, and established Honeywell’s evergreen funding obligations. The operating rules per the TDP define criteria claimants must meet for a claim to be considered valid and paid. Once operational in 2014, the Trust began to receive, process, and pay claims. In September 2021, Honeywell filed suit against the Trust in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (Bankruptcy Court) alleging that the Trust breached its duties in managing the Trust, including breaches of certain provisions of the TA and TDP. Honeywell's lawsuit sought appropriate relief preventing the Trust from continuing these practices. The Trust also filed suit against Honeywell, alleging Honeywell breached its obligations under the Trust's governing documents. Honeywell moved to dismiss the Trust’s suit, and on December 15, 2021, the Bankruptcy Court granted Honeywell’s motion to dismiss subject to granting the Trust leave to file an amended complaint. On December 28, 2021, the Trust filed an answer with counterclaims in response to Honeywell’s complaint and in lieu of filing an amended complaint. The Bankruptcy Court conducted a trial on these matters during May 2022; following the trial, the Company and the Trust began discussing a potential settlement of Honeywell’s remaining obligations to the Trust. On November 18, 2022, Honeywell entered into a definitive agreement (Buyout Agreement) with the Trust, and on November 20, 2022, in exchange for the NARCO Trust Advisory Committee (TAC) and Lawrence Fitzpatrick, in his capacity as the NARCO Asbestos Future Claimants Representative (FCR), becoming parties to the Buyout Agreement, Honeywell, the Trust, the TAC, and the FCR entered into an Amended and Restated Buyout Agreement (Amended Buyout Agreement). Pursuant to the terms of the Amended Buyout Agreement, Honeywell agreed to make a one-time, lump sum payment in the amount of $1.325 billion to the Trust (Buyout Amount), subject to certain deductions as described in the Amended Buyout Agreement and in exchange for the release by the Trust of Honeywell from all further and future obligations of any kind related to the Trust and/or any claimants who were exposed to asbestos-containing products manufactured, sold, or distributed by NARCO or its predecessors, including Honeywell’s ongoing evergreen obligation to fund (i) claims against the Trust, which comprise Honeywell’s NARCO asbestos-related claims liability, and (ii) the Trust’s annual operating expenses, which are expensed as incurred, including its legal fees (which operating expenses, for reference, were approximately $30 million in 2022) (such evergreen obligations referred to in (i) and (ii), Honeywell Obligations) (the NARCO Buyout). On December 8, 2022, the Bankruptcy Court issued an order that (A) approved the Amended Buyout Agreement, and (B) declared that the NARCO Channeling Injunction (which bars all past, present, and future individual actions in state or federal courts based on exposure to NARCO asbestos-containing products and requires all such claims to be made against the Trust) will remain in full force and effect without modification, dissolution, or termination (Order). On December 14, 2022, HWI, the reorganized and renamed entity that emerged from the NARCO bankruptcy, entered into a definitive agreement (Sale Agreement) pursuant to which an affiliate of Platinum Equity, LLC agreed to acquire HWI (HWI Sale) subject to the terms set forth in the Sale Agreement, including customary conditions to closing set forth therein. In accordance with the Amended Buyout Agreement, the economic rights of the Trust in respect of the net proceeds from the HWI Sale inure to the benefit of Honeywell. On January 30, 2023, the Company paid the Buyout Amount to the Trust, the parties closed the transactions contemplated in the Amended Buyout Agreement (Closing), and Honeywell was released from the Honeywell Obligations. Honeywell continues to have the right to collect proceeds in connection with its NARCO asbestos-related insurance policies. With the issuance of the Order, the Company derecognized the NARCO asbestos-related liability of $688 million from the Consolidated Balance Sheet and recognized a charge of $1.325 billion in the Consolidated Statement of Operations and accrued a corresponding liability in the Consolidated Balance Sheet for the Buyout Amount. In addition, the Company recognized a benefit of $295 million in the Consolidated Statement of Operations and corresponding asset in Other current assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheet for Honeywell's rights to the proceeds from the HWI Sale. The benefit of $295 million offset the charge for the Buyout Amount. On February 16, 2023, the HWI Sale closed. Pursuant to the Amended Buyout Agreement, during 2023, Honeywell received $275 million of proceeds from the HWI sale. See Note 12 Fair Value Measurements for further information on the related proceeds and remaining amount under the Amended Buyout Agreement. 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:
| Three Months Ended March 31, |  | Years Ended December 31,
| 2024 |  | 2023 |  | 2022
Claims unresolved at the beginning of period | 5,517 |  |  | 5,608 |  |  | 6,401 |
Claims filed | 360 |  |  | 1,803 |  |  | 2,014 |
Claims resolved | (504) |  |  | (1,894) |  |  | (2,807) |
Claims unresolved at the end of period | 5,373 |  |  | 5,517 |  |  | 5,608 |
| March 31, |  | December 31,
Disease Distribution of Unresolved Claims | 2024 |  | 2023 |  | 2022
Mesothelioma and other cancer claims | 3,273 |  |  | 3,244 |  |  | 3,283 |
Nonmalignant claims | 2,100 |  |  | 2,273 |  |  | 2,325 |
Total claims | 5,373 |  |  | 5,517 |  |  | 5,608 |
Honeywell has experienced average resolution values per claim excluding legal costs as follows:
| Years Ended December 31,
| 2023 |  | 2022 |  | 2021 |  | 2020 |  | 2019
| (in whole dollars)
Mesothelioma and other cancer claims | $ | 66,200 |  |  | $ | 59,200 |  |  | $ | 56,000 |  |  | $ | 61,500 |  |  | $ | 50,200 |
Nonmalignant claims | $ | 1,730 |  |  | $ | 520 |  |  | $ | 400 |  |  | $ | 550 |  |  | $ | 3,900 |
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 average resolution values in the tort system over a defined look-back period. The Company historically valued Bendix asserted and unasserted claims using a five-year look-back period. The Company reviews the valuation assumptions and average resolution values used to estimate the cost of Bendix asserted and unasserted claims during the fourth quarter each year. The Company experienced fluctuations in average resolution values year-over-year in each of the past five years with no well-established trends in either direction. In 2023, the Company observed two consecutive years of increasing average resolution values (2023 and 2022), with more volatility in the earlier years of the five-year period (2019 through 2021). Based on these observations, the Company, during its annual review in the fourth quarter of 2023, reevaluated its valuation methodology and elected to give more weight to the two most recent years by shortening the look-back period from five years to two years (2023 and 2022). The Company believes that the average resolution values in the last two consecutive years are likely more representative of expected resolution values in future periods. It is not possible to predict whether such resolution values will increase, decrease, or stabilize in the future, given recent litigation trends within the tort system and the inherent uncertainty in predicting the outcome of such trends. The Company will continue to monitor Bendix claim resolution values and other trends within the tort system to assess the appropriate look-back period for determining average resolution values going forward. In 2023, the Company recognized a $522 million expense and corresponding adjustment to its estimated liability for Bendix asbestos-related claims. This amount includes $434 million attributable primarily to shortening the look-back period to the two most recent years, and to a lesser extent to increasing expected resolution values for a subset of asserted claims to adjust for higher claim values in that subset than in the modelled two-year data set. 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 the Company's 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 the Company's analysis of the underlying insurance policies, historical experience with insurers, ongoing review of the solvency of insurers, judicial determinations relevant to insurance programs, and consideration of the impacts of any settlements reached with the Company's insurers. SEC MATTER The Company is cooperating with a formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission which is primarily focused on certain accounting matters with respect to the Company's former Performance Materials and Technologies segment. At this time, the Company does not expect the outcome of this matter to have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated results of operations, cash flows, or financial position. PETROBRAS AND UNAOIL MATTERS On December 19, 2022, the Company reached a comprehensive resolution to the investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and certain Brazilian authorities (Brazilian Authorities) relating to the Company's use of third parties who previously worked for the Company's UOP business in Brazil in relation to a project awarded in 2010 for Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras). The investigations focused on the Company’s compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar Brazilian laws (UOP Matters). The comprehensive resolution also resolves DOJ and SEC investigations relating to a matter involving a foreign subsidiary’s prior contract with Unaoil S.A.M. in Algeria executed in 2011 (the Unaoil Matter). In connection with the comprehensive resolution, (i) the Company agreed to pay a total equivalent of $202.7 million, which payment occurred in January 2023, to the DOJ, the SEC, and the Brazilian Authorities, collectively, in penalties, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest, (ii) the Company’s subsidiary, UOP, LLC (UOP), entered into a three-year Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the DOJ for charges related to the UOP Matters, (iii) UOP entered into leniency agreements with the Brazilian authorities related to the UOP Matter in Brazil, and (iv) the Company entered into an agreement with the SEC that resolves allegations relating to the UOP Matters and the Unaoil Matter. Pursuant to these agreements, the Company agreed to undertake certain compliance measures and compliance reporting obligations. These agreements entirely resolve the Petrobras and Unaoil investigations. 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 the Company's 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. The Company recognizes liabilities for any contingency that is probable of occurrence and reasonably estimable. The Company continually assesses the likelihood of adverse judgments or outcomes in such matters, as well as potential ranges of probable 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, including those discussed in this Note 15, the Company cannot predict when or how these matters will be resolved and does not believe it is possible to develop estimates of reasonably possible loss (or a range of possible loss) in excess of current accruals for commitment and contingency matters. Considering the Company's past experience and existing accruals, the Company does not expect the outcome of such matters, either individually or in the aggregate, to have a material adverse effect on the Company's 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 the Company to pay damage awards or settlements (or become subject to equitable remedies) that could have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated results of operations or operating cash flows in the periods recognized or paid.

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