Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

v3.22.1
ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2022
Asset Retirement Obligation [Abstract]  
ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
NOTE 12 - ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
The following is a summary of our asset retirement obligations:
(In Millions)
March 31,
2022		 December 31,
2021
Asset retirement obligations1
$ 460  $ 449 
Less: current portion 33  35 
Long-term asset retirement obligations $ 427  $ 414 
1 Includes $297 million and $293 million related to our active operations as of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.
The accrued closure obligation provides for contractual and legal obligations related to our indefinitely idled and closed operations and for the eventual closure of our active operations. The closure date for each of our active mine sites was determined based on the exhaustion date of the remaining mineral reserves, and the amortization of the related asset and accretion of the liability is recognized over the estimated mine lives. The closure date and expected timing of the capital requirements to meet our obligations for our indefinitely idled or closed mines is determined based on the unique circumstances of each property. For indefinitely idled or closed mines, the accretion of the liability is recognized over the anticipated timing of remediation. As the majority of our asset retirement obligations at our steelmaking operations have indeterminate settlement dates, asset retirement obligations have been recorded at present values using estimated ranges of the economic lives of the underlying assets.
The following is a roll forward of our asset retirement obligation liability:
(In Millions)
2022 2021
Asset retirement obligation as of January 1 $ 449  $ 342 
Decrease from acquisitions —  (34)
Accretion expense 7  3 
Revision in estimated cash flows 7  — 
Remediation payments (3) (1)
Asset retirement obligation as of March 31 $ 460  $ 310