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Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

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Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

Litigation

West Fertilizer Co.

On April 17, 2013, there was a fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. fertilizer storage and distribution facility in West, Texas. According to published reports, 15 people were killed and approximately 200 people were injured in the incident, and the fire and explosion damaged or destroyed a number of homes and buildings around the facility. Various subsidiaries of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (the CF Entities) were named as defendants along with other companies in lawsuits filed in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in the District Court of McLennan County, Texas by the City of West, individual residents of the County and other parties seeking recovery for damages allegedly sustained as a result of the explosion. The cases were consolidated for discovery and pretrial proceedings in the District Court of McLennan County under the caption “In re: West Explosion Cases.” The two-year statute of limitations expired on April 17, 2015. As of that date, over 400 plaintiffs had filed claims, including at least 9 entities, 325 individuals, and 80 insurance companies. Plaintiffs allege various theories of negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty under Texas law. Although we do not own or operate the facility or directly sell our products to West Fertilizer Co., products that the CF Entities manufactured and sold to others were delivered to the facility and may have been stored at the West facility at the time of the incident.

The Court granted in part and denied in part the CF Entities’ Motions for Summary Judgment in August 2015. Over two hundred cases have been resolved pursuant to confidential settlements that have been or we expect will be fully funded by insurance. The remaining cases are in various stages of discovery and pre-trial proceedings. The next group of cases was reset for trial beginning on September 14, 2020. We believe we have strong legal and factual defenses and intend to continue defending the CF Entities vigorously in the pending lawsuits. The Company cannot provide a range of reasonably possible loss due to the lack of damages discovery for many of the remaining claims and the uncertain nature of this litigation, including uncertainties around the potential allocation of responsibility by a jury to other defendants or responsible third parties. The recognition of a potential loss in the future in the West Fertilizer Co. litigation could negatively affect our results in the period of recognition. However, based upon currently available information, including available insurance coverage, we do not believe that this litigation will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Environmental

Florida Environmental Matter

On March 17, 2014, we completed the sale of our phosphate mining and manufacturing business, which was located in Florida, to The Mosaic Company (Mosaic). Pursuant to the terms of the definitive agreement executed in October 2013 among CF Industries Holdings, Inc., CF Industries and Mosaic, Mosaic assumed the following environmental matter and we agreed to indemnify Mosaic with respect to losses arising out of the matter below, subject to a maximum indemnification cap and the other terms of the definitive agreement.

Clean Air Act Notice of Violation

We received a Notice of Violation (NOV) from the EPA by letter dated June 16, 2010, alleging that we violated the Prevention of Significant Deterioration Clean Air Act regulations relating to certain projects undertaken at the former Plant City, Florida facility’s sulfuric acid plants. This NOV further alleges that the actions that are the basis for the alleged PSD violations also resulted in violations of Title V air operating permit regulations. Finally, the NOV alleges that we failed to comply with certain compliance dates established by hazardous air pollutant regulations for phosphoric acid manufacturing plants and phosphate fertilizer production plants. We had several meetings with the EPA with respect to this matter prior to our

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

sale of the phosphate mining and manufacturing business in March 2014. We and Mosaic have separately had continued discussions with the EPA subsequent to our sale of the phosphate mining and manufacturing business with respect to this matter.

We have reached a settlement in principle with the EPA to resolve the Plant City Clean Air Act matter, pending the final execution and filing of a stipulation of settlement. The settlement will require us to pay civil penalties to the United States, but will not include any required injunctive relief or other corrective actions. The settlement will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Other Environmental Matters

For information on pending proceedings relating to environmental remediation matters, see Item 1. Business—Environmental, Health and Safety and Note 20—Contingencies to our consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report.

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