Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Liabilities for Landfill and Environmental Remediation Costs

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


	December 31, 2016						December 31, 2015
	Landfill		Environmental Remediation		Total		Landfill		Environmental Remediation		Total
Current (in accrued liabilities)	$	119	$	28	$	147	$	112	$	31	$	143
Long-term		1,457		218		1,675		1,406		178		1,584

	$	1,576	$	246	$	1,822	$	1,518	$	209	$	1,727

Changes to Landfill and Environmental Remediation Liabilities

The changes to landfill and environmental remediation liabilities for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016 are reflected in the table below (in millions):


	Landfill			Environmental Remediation
December 31, 2014	$	1,443		$	235
Obligations incurred and capitalized		61			—
Obligations settled		(71	)		(30	)
Interest accretion		89			3
Revisions in estimates and interest rate assumptions(a)(b)		(11	)		5
Acquisitions, divestitures and other adjustments(d)		7			(4	)

December 31, 2015	$	1,518		$	209
Obligations incurred and capitalized		59			—
Obligations settled		(91	)		(24	)
Interest accretion		91			3
Revisions in estimates and interest rate assumptions(a)(b)(c)		(1	)		58

December 31, 2016	$	1,576		$	246

(a)	The amount reported for our landfill liabilities includes a decrease of approximately $18 million for 2015 and $11 million for 2016, related to our year-end annual review of landfill final capping, closure and post-closure obligations.

(b)

The amount reported in 2015 for our environmental remediation liabilities includes the impact of an increase in the risk-free discount rate used to measure our liabilities from 2.0% at December 31, 2014 to 2.25% at December 31, 2015, resulting in a decrease of $3 million to our environmental remediation liabilities and a corresponding decrease to “Operating” expenses.

The amount reported in 2016 for environmental remediation liabilities includes the impact of an increase in the risk-free discount rate used to measure our liabilities from 2.25% at December 31, 2015 to 2.5% at December 31, 2016, resulting in a decrease of $2 million to our environmental remediation liabilities and a corresponding decrease to “Operating” expenses.

(c)	The amount reported in 2016 for our landfill liabilities includes an increase of $13 million due to acceleration of the expected timing of closure and post-closure activities for a landfill. See Note 13 for further discussion of the impairment charge related to this landfill.

The amount reported in 2016 for our environmental remediation liabilities includes the impact of an increase of $44 million in our cost estimates associated with a subsidiary’s closed site in Harris County, Texas. See Notes 11 and 13 for further discussion of this environmental remediation adjustment.

(d)	The amount reported for our 2015 landfill liabilities include an increase of approximately $18 million as a result of our acquisition of Deffenbaugh Disposal, Inc. (“Deffenbaugh”).