Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

13. Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Legal Matters

Between 2005 and 2012, the EPA and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (“OEPA”) issued Notices of Violations (“NOVs”), alleging violations of air emission operating permits for our Haverhill and Granite City cokemaking facilities. We worked in a cooperative manner with the EPA, the OEPA and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to address the allegations and, in November 2014, entered into a consent decree with these parties in federal district court in the Southern District of Illinois. The consent decree included a civil penalty paid in December 2014, and a commitment to undertake capital projects to improve reliability and enhance environmental performance. The Haverhill project was completed in 2016, but completion of the Granite City project was delayed to June 2019, with SunCoke agreeing to pay an immaterial amount associated with the delay.

Between 2010 and 2016, SunCoke Energy also received certain NOVs, Findings of Violations (“FOVs”), and information requests from the EPA, alleging violations of air operating permit conditions related to our Indiana Harbor cokemaking facility. To reach a settlement of these NOVs and FOVs, we met regularly with the EPA, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Cokenergy, LLC., an independent power producer that processes hot flue gas

from our Indiana Harbor facility to reduce the sulfur and particulate content and produce steam and electricity. A consent decree among the parties was entered by the federal district court in the Northern District of Indiana during the fourth quarter of 2018. The settlement included a civil penalty paid in the fourth quarter of 2018, and implementation of certain capital projects, completed during the fourth quarter of 2019, to improve reliability and environmental performance of the coke ovens at the facility.

The Company is a party to certain other pending and threatened claims, including matters related to commercial disputes, employment claims, personal injury claims, common law tort claims, and environmental claims. Although the ultimate outcome of these claims cannot be ascertained at this time, it is reasonably possible that some portion of these claims could be resolved unfavorably to the Company. Management of the Company believes that any liability which may arise from these claims would not have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial statements. SunCoke's threshold for disclosing material environmental legal proceedings involving a government authority where potential monetary sanctions are involved is $1 million.

Black Lung Benefit Liabilities

The Company has obligations related to coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, or black lung, benefits to certain of our former coal miners and their dependents. Such benefits are provided for under Title IV of the Federal Coal Mine and Safety Act of 1969 and subsequent amendments, as well as for black lung benefits provided in the states of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia pursuant to workers’ compensation legislation. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), which was implemented in 2010, amended previous legislation related to coal workers’ black lung obligations. PPACA provides for the automatic extension of awarded lifetime benefits to surviving spouses and changes the legal criteria used to assess and award claims. We act as a self-insurer for both state and federal black lung benefits and adjust our liability each year based upon actuarial calculations of our expected future payments for these benefits.

Our independent actuarial consultants calculate the present value of the estimated black lung liability annually based on actuarial models utilizing our population of former coal miners, historical payout patterns of both the Company and the industry, actuarial mortality rates, disability incidence, medical costs, death benefits, dependents, discount rates and the current federally mandated payout rates. The estimated liability may be impacted by future changes in the statutory mechanisms, modifications by court decisions and changes in filing patterns driven by perceptions of success by claimants and their advisors, the impact of which cannot be estimated.

The following table summarizes discount rates utilized, active claims and the total black lung liabilities:


	December 31,
	2020			2019
Discount rate(1)	2.0		%	2.9		%
Active claims	309			324
Total black lung liability (dollars in millions)(2)	$	64.6		$	55.1

(1)The discount rate is determined based on a portfolio of high-quality corporate bonds with maturities that are consistent with the estimated duration of our black lung obligations. A decrease of 25 basis points in the discount rate would have increased black lung expense by $1.6 million in 2020.

(2)The current portion of the black lung liability was $4.6 million at both December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and was included in accrued liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

The following table summarizes annual black lung payments and expense:


	Years Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
	(Dollars in millions)
Payments	$	6.0	$	5.2	$	6.3
Expense (1)	$	15.4	$	10.9	$	5.4

(1)Expenses incurred in excess of annual accretion of the black lung liability primarily reflect the impact of changes in discount rates as well as increases in expected future claims as a result of higher refiling and approval rate assumptions.