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Other Commitments And Contingencies
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3 Months Ended |
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Mar. 31, 2015
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| Other Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract] | |
| Commitments and Contingencies | Other Commitments and Contingencies A. Other Legal Proceedings. In the normal course of its business, the Partnership has been named as a defendant in various legal proceedings. In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these currently asserted claims will not have a material impact on the Partnership’s consolidated and combined financial statements. B. Environmental Matters. The Partnership's operations are subject to environmental statutes and regulations related to air quality, water quality, hazardous waste and solid waste. The Partnership believes that it is in substantial compliance with those environmental regulations currently applicable to its operations and believes that it has all necessary permits to conduct its operations. It is the Partnership's continued intent to address environmental issues in cooperation with regulatory authorities in such a manner as to achieve mutually acceptable compliance plans. However, there can be no assurance that fines and penalties will not be incurred. The Partnership expects a significant portion of environmental assessment and remediation costs to be recoverable through rates. The Partnership records accruals to cover environmental remediation at various sites. The current portion of this accrual is included in “Legal and environmental” in the Condensed Consolidated and Combined Balance Sheets (unaudited). The noncurrent portion is included in “Other noncurrent liabilities” in the Condensed Consolidated and Combined Balance Sheets (unaudited). National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The CAA requires the EPA to set NAAQS for particulate matter and five other pollutants considered harmful to public health and the environment. Periodically the EPA imposes new or modifies existing NAAQS. States that contain areas that do not meet the new or revised standards must take steps to maintain or achieve compliance with the standards. These steps could include additional pollution controls on boilers, engines, turbines, and other facilities owned by the Partnership. The following NAAQS were recently added or modified: Ozone: On November 25, 2014, the EPA proposed to lower the 8-hour ozone standard from 75 ppb to within a range of 65-70 ppb. If the standard is finalized and the EPA proceeds with designations, areas where the Partnership operates currently designated as attainment may be re-classified as non-attainment. The Partnership will continue to monitor this matter and cannot estimate its impact at this time. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2): The EPA revised the NO2 NAAQS by adding a one-hour standard while retaining the annual standard. The new standard could impact some Partnership combustion sources. The EPA designated all areas of the country as unclassifiable/attainment in January 2012. After the establishment of a new monitoring network and possible modeling implementation, areas will potentially be re-designated sometime in 2016. States with areas that do not meet the standard will be required to develop rules to bring areas into compliance within five years of designation. Additionally, under certain permitting circumstances, emissions from some existing Partnership combustion sources may need to be assessed and mitigated. The Partnership will continue to monitor this matter and cannot estimate the impact of these rules at this time. |