Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

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ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Environmental Remediation Obligations [Abstract]  
ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
NOTE 14 - ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS
The following is a summary of our asset retirement obligations:
(In Millions)
December 31,
2021 2020
Asset retirement obligations1
$ 449  $ 342 
Less: current portion 35  7 
Long-term asset retirement obligations $ 414  $ 335 
1 Includes $293 million and $190 million related to our active operations as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, 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. We performed a detailed assessment of our asset retirement obligations related to our active operations most recently in 2020 in accordance with our accounting policy, which requires us to perform an in-depth evaluation of the liability every three years in addition to
routine annual assessments. In 2020, we employed third-party specialists to assist in the evaluation.
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)
2021 2020
Asset retirement obligation as of January 1 $ 342  $ 165 
Increase from acquisitions 116  172 
Accretion expense 18  14 
Remediation payments (29) (9)
Revision in estimated cash flows 2  — 
Asset retirement obligation as of December 31 $ 449  $ 342 
The increase from acquisitions for the year ended December 31, 2021 relates to measurement period adjustments as a result of the final purchase price allocation of the AM USA Transaction.