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Environmental Matters | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2020
Environmental Remediation Obligations [Abstract] |
Environmental Matters | Environmental Matters Superfund Sites Hazardous substances, such as asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and coal tar, have been used or generated in the course of operations of the Utilities and their predecessors and are present at sites and in facilities and equipment they currently or previously owned, including sites at which gas was manufactured or stored. The Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 and similar state statutes (Superfund) impose joint and several liability, regardless of fault, upon generators of hazardous substances for investigation and remediation costs (which include costs of demolition, removal, disposal, storage, replacement, containment and monitoring) and natural resource damages. Liability under these laws can be material and may be imposed for contamination from past acts, even though such past acts may have been lawful at the time they occurred. The sites at which the Utilities have been asserted to have liability under these laws, including their manufactured gas plant sites and any neighboring areas to which contamination may have migrated, are referred to herein as “Superfund Sites.” For Superfund Sites where there are other potentially responsible parties and the Utilities are not managing the site investigation and remediation, the accrued liability represents an estimate of the amount the Utilities will need to pay to investigate and, where determinable, discharge their related obligations. For Superfund Sites (including the manufactured gas plant sites) for which one of the Utilities is managing the investigation and remediation, the accrued liability represents an estimate of the company’s share of the undiscounted cost to investigate the sites and, for sites that have been investigated in whole or in part, the cost to remediate the sites, if remediation is necessary and if a reasonable estimate of such cost can be made. Remediation costs are estimated in light of the information available, applicable remediation standards and experience with similar sites. The accrued liabilities and regulatory assets related to Superfund Sites at December 31, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
| Con Edison |  | CECONY
(Millions of Dollars) | 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2019
Accrued Liabilities: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Manufactured gas plant sites | $752 |  | $640 |  | $676 |  | $561
Other Superfund Sites | 105 |  | 94 |  | 104 |  | 93
Total | $857 |  | $734 |  | $780 |  | $654
Regulatory assets | $865 |  | $732 |  | $791 |  | $647
Most of the accrued Superfund Site liability relates to sites that have been investigated, in whole or in part. However, for some of the sites, the extent and associated cost of the required remediation has not yet been determined. As investigations progress and information pertaining to the required remediation becomes available, the Utilities expect that additional liability may be accrued, the amount of which is not presently determinable but may be material. The Utilities are permitted to recover or defer as regulatory assets (for subsequent recovery through rates) prudently incurred site investigation and remediation costs. Environmental remediation costs incurred related to Superfund Sites at December 31, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
| Con Edison |  | CECONY
(Millions of Dollars) | 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2019
Remediation costs incurred | $33 |  | $19 |  | $32 |  | $13
Insurance and other third party recoveries received by Con Edison or CECONY were immaterial in 2020 and 2019. Con Edison and CECONY estimate that in 2021 they will incur costs for remediation of approximately $40 million and $38 million, respectively. The Companies are unable to estimate the time period over which the remaining accrued liability will be incurred because, among other things, the required remediation has not been determined for some of the sites. In 2020, Con Edison and CECONY estimated that for their manufactured gas plant sites (including CECONY’s Astoria site), the aggregate undiscounted potential liability for the investigation and remediation of coal tar and/or other environmental contaminants could range up to $2,700 million and $2,600 million, respectively. These estimates were based on the assumption that there is contamination at all sites, including those that have not yet been fully investigated and additional assumptions about the extent of the contamination and the type and extent of the remediation that may be required. Actual experience may be materially different. Asbestos Proceedings Suits have been brought in New York State and federal courts against the Utilities and many other defendants, wherein a large number of plaintiffs sought large amounts of compensatory and punitive damages for deaths and injuries allegedly caused by exposure to asbestos at various premises of the Utilities. The suits that have been resolved, which are many, have been resolved without any payment by the Utilities, or for amounts that were not, in the aggregate, material to them. The amounts specified in all the remaining thousands of suits total billions of dollars; however, the Utilities believe that these amounts are greatly exaggerated, based on the disposition of previous claims. At December 31, 2020, Con Edison and CECONY have accrued their estimated aggregate undiscounted potential liabilities for these suits and additional suits that may be brought over the next 15 years as shown in the following table. These estimates were based upon a combination of modeling, historical data analysis and risk factor assessment. Courts have begun, and unless otherwise determined on appeal may continue, to apply different standards for determining liability in asbestos suits than the standard that applied historically. As a result, the Companies currently believe that there is a reasonable possibility of an exposure to loss in excess of the liability accrued for the suits. The Companies are unable to estimate the amount or range of such loss. In addition, certain current and former employees have claimed or are claiming workers’ compensation benefits based on alleged disability from exposure to asbestos. CECONY is permitted to defer as regulatory assets (for subsequent recovery through rates) costs incurred for its asbestos lawsuits and workers’ compensation claims. The accrued liability for asbestos suits and workers’ compensation proceedings (including those related to asbestos exposure) and the amounts deferred as regulatory assets for the Companies at December 31, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:
| Con Edison |  | CECONY
(Millions of Dollars) | 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2019
Accrued liability – asbestos suits | $8 |  | $8 |  | $7 |  | $7
Regulatory assets – asbestos suits | $8 |  | $8 |  | $7 |  | $7
Accrued liability – workers’ compensation | $72 |  | $78 |  | $68 |  | $73
Regulatory assets/(liabilities) – workers’ compensation | $(3) |  | $3 |  | $(3) |  | $3

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