21. ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH AND SAFETY MATTERS

EHS Capital Expenditures

We may incur future costs for capital improvements and general compliance under EHS laws, including costs to acquire, maintain and repair pollution control equipment. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, our capital expenditures for EHS matters totaled $30 million, $44 million and $36 million, respectively. Because capital expenditures for these matters are subject to evolving regulatory requirements and depend, in part, on the timing, promulgation and enforcement of specific requirements, our capital expenditures for EHS matters have varied significantly from year to year and we cannot provide assurance that our recent expenditures are indicative of future amounts we may spend related to EHS and other applicable laws.

Environmental Reserves

We have accrued liabilities relating to anticipated environmental cleanup obligations, site reclamation and closure costs and known penalties. Liabilities are recorded when potential liabilities are either known or considered probable and can be reasonably estimated. Our liability estimates are calculated using present value techniques as appropriate and are based upon requirements placed upon us by regulators, available facts, existing technology and past experience. The environmental liabilities do not include amounts recorded as asset retirement obligations. We had accrued $5 million for environmental liabilities for both  December 31, 2023 and 2022. Of these amounts, $2 million and $1 million were classified as accrued liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and $3 million and $4 million were classified as other noncurrent liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets as of  December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. In certain cases, our remediation liabilities may be payable over periods of up to 30 years. We may incur losses for environmental remediation in excess of the amounts accrued; however, we are not able to estimate the amount or range of such potential excess.

Environmental Matters

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) and similar state laws, a current or former owner or operator of real property in the U.S. may be liable for remediation costs regardless of whether the release or disposal of hazardous substances was in compliance with law at the time it occurred, and a current owner or operator may be liable regardless of whether it owned or operated the facility at the time of the release. Outside the U.S., analogous contaminated property laws can hold past owners and/or operators liable for remediation at former facilities. Currently, there are approximately six former facilities or third-party sites in the U.S. for which we have been notified of potential claims against us for cleanup liabilities, including, but not limited to, sites listed under CERCLA. Based on current information and past experiences at other CERCLA sites, we do not expect these third-party claims to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) in the U.S. and similar state laws, we may be required to remediate contamination originating from our properties. Similar laws exist in a number of non-U.S. locations in which we currently operate, or previously operated, manufacturing facilities. Some of our manufacturing sites have an extended history of industrial chemical manufacturing and use, including on-site waste disposal. We are aware of soil, groundwater or surface contamination from past operations at some of our sites, and we may find contamination at other sites in the future. For example, our Geismar, Louisiana facility is the subject of ongoing remediation requirements imposed under RCRA.