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CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND OTHER MATTERS
The Company may be involved in various legal and regulatory proceedings relating to employment, antitrust, tax, product liability, environmental, contracts, intellectual property and other matters (collectively, “Proceedings”). The Company regularly reviews the status of such Proceedings along with legal counsel. Liabilities for such Proceedings are recorded when it is probable that the liability has been incurred and when the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Liabilities are adjusted when additional information becomes available. Management believes that the amount of any reasonably possible losses in excess of any amounts accrued, if any, with respect to such Proceedings or any other known claim, including the matters described below under the caption Environmental Matters (the “Environmental Matters”), are not material to the Company’s financial statements. Management believes that the ultimate disposition of the Proceedings and the Environmental Matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition. While the likelihood is remote, the disposition of the Proceedings and Environmental Matters could have a material impact on the results of operations, cash flows or liquidity in any given reporting period.
Litigation and Regulatory Proceedings

The Company is involved in litigation and regulatory proceedings from time to time in the regular course of its business. The Company believes that adequate provisions for resolution of all contingencies, claims and pending matters have been made for probable losses that are reasonably estimable.

During the second quarter of 2023, the Company’s subsidiary, Paroc Group OY (“Paroc”), which the Company acquired in 2018, notified the appropriate European maritime regulatory authorities that specific insulation products in its marine insulation product line may not meet certain fire safety requirements in accordance with their certifications. Paroc has voluntarily withdrawn these specific products from the market, issued a recall for these products and suspended distribution and sales of these products. Paroc is cooperating with the applicable regulatory and government authorities and its customers to address the issue. The Company’s review of this matter is ongoing. We expect to incur costs associated with the resolution of this matter and it is possible that these costs may be material. The amount or range of any potential loss cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.

Environmental Matters

The Company has established policies and procedures designed to ensure that its operations are conducted in compliance with all relevant laws and regulations and that enable the Company to meet its high standards for corporate sustainability and environmental stewardship. Our manufacturing facilities are subject to numerous foreign, federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the presence of hazardous materials, pollution and protection of the environment, including emissions to air, reductions of greenhouse gases, discharges to water, management of hazardous materials, handling and disposal of solid wastes, use of chemicals in our manufacturing processes, and remediation of contaminated sites. All Company manufacturing facilities are required to use an ISO 14001 or equivalent environmental management system. The Company’s 2030 Sustainability Goals include significant global reductions in energy use, water consumption, waste to landfill, and emissions of greenhouse gases, fine particulate matter, and volatile organic air emissions, and protection of biodiversity.

Owens Corning is involved in remedial response activities and is responsible for environmental remediation at a number of sites, including certain of its currently owned or formerly owned plants. These responsibilities arise under a number of laws, including, but not limited to, the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and similar state or local laws pertaining to the management and remediation of hazardous materials and petroleum. The Company has also been named a potentially responsible party under the U.S. Federal Superfund law, or state equivalents, at a number of disposal sites. The Company became involved in these sites as a result of government action or in connection with business acquisitions. As of June 30, 2023, the Company was involved with a total of 22 sites worldwide, including 10 Superfund and state or country equivalent sites and 12 owned or formerly owned sites. None of the liabilities for these sites are individually significant to the Company.
Remediation activities generally involve a potential range of activities and costs related to soil, groundwater, and sediment contamination. This can include pre-cleanup activities such as fact-finding and investigation, risk assessment, feasibility studies, remedial action design and implementation (where actions may range from monitoring to removal of contaminants, to installation of longer-term remediation systems). A number of factors affect the cost of environmental remediation, including the number of parties involved in a particular site, the determination of the extent of contamination, the length of time the remediation may require, the complexity of environmental regulations, variability in clean-up standards, the need for legal action, and changes in remediation technology. Taking these factors into account, Owens Corning reasonably estimates the costs of remediation to be paid over a period of years. The Company accrues an amount on an undiscounted basis, when a liability is probable and reasonably estimable. Actual cost may differ from these estimates for the reasons mentioned above. At June 30, 2023, the Company had an accrual totaling $5 million for these costs, of which the current portion is $1 million. Changes in required remediation procedures or timing of those procedures, or discovery of contamination at additional sites, could result in material increases to the Company’s environmental obligations.