Item 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
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Item 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Corteva, Inc.
a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The company maintains a system of disclosure controls and procedures to give reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in the company's reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange Commission. These controls and procedures also give reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in such reports is accumulated and communicated to management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.
As of September 30, 2022, the company's Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), together with management, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the company's disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act. Based on that evaluation, the CEO and CFO concluded that these disclosure controls and procedures are effective.
b) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in the company's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended September 30, 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the company's internal control over financial reporting.
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
EID maintains a system of disclosure controls and procedures to give reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in their reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange Commission. These controls and procedures also give reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in such reports is accumulated and communicated to management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.
As of September 30, 2022, EID's CEO and CFO, together with management, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of EID's disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act. Based on that evaluation, the CEO and CFO concluded that these disclosure controls and procedures are effective.
b) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in EID's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended September 30, 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, EID's internal control over financial reporting.
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
**Item 1.**LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The company is subject to various legal proceedings, including, but not limited to, product liability, intellectual property, antitrust, commercial, property damage, personal injury, environmental and regulatory matters arising out of the normal course of its current businesses or legacy EID businesses unrelated to Corteva’s current businesses but allocated to Corteva as part of the Separation of Corteva from DuPont.
Often these proceedings raise complex factual and legal issues, which are subject to risks and uncertainties and which could require significant amounts of senior leadership team’s time. Litigation and other claims, along with regulatory proceedings, against the company could also materially adversely affect its operations, reputation, and/or result in the incurrence of unexpected expenses and liability. Even when the company believes liabilities are not expected to be material or the probability of loss or of an adverse unappealable final judgment is remote, the company may consider settlement of these matters, and may enter into settlement agreements, if it believes settlement is in the best interest of the company, including avoidance of future distraction and litigation defense cost, and its shareholders. Information regarding certain of these matters is set forth below and in Note 12 - Commitments and Contingent Liabilities, to the interim Consolidated Financial Statements.
Litigation related to Corteva’s current businesses
Federal Trade Commission Investigation
On May 26, 2020, Corteva received a subpoena from the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) directing it to submit documents pertaining to its crop protection products generally, as well as business plans, rebate programs, offers, pricing and marketing materials specifically related to its acetochlor, oxamyl, rimsulfuron and other related products in order to determine whether Corteva engaged in unfair methods of competition through anticompetitive conduct. Corteva has fully cooperated with all requests related to this subpoena. On September 29, 2022, the FTC, along with ten state attorneys general in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Wisconsin and Texas, filed a lawsuit against Corteva and another competitor alleging the parties engaged in unfair methods of competition, unlawful conditioning of payments, unreasonably restrained trade, and have an unlawful monopoly (the “FTC lawsuit”). Several proposed private class action lawsuits were also filed in federal court also alleging anticompetitive conduct based on the allegations set forth in the FTC lawsuit. We believe any such lawsuits related to Corteva’s business practices are without merit.
Lorsban® Lawsuits
As of September 30, 2022, there were pending personal injury and remediation lawsuits filed against the former Dow Agrosciences LLC in California alleging injuries related to exposure to, or contamination by, chlorpyrifos, the active ingredient in Lorsban®, an insecticide used by commercial farms for field fruit, nut and vegetable crops. Corteva ended its production of Lorsban® in 2020. Further information with respect to these proceedings is set forth under “Lorsban® Lawsuits” in Note 12 – Commitments and Contingent Liabilities, to the interim Consolidated Financial Statements.
Bayer Disputes
In August 2022, Corteva filed a lawsuit against Bayer CropScience LLP and Monsanto Company (collectively “Bayer”) in federal court in Delaware for alleged infringement of Corteva’s patented AAD-1 herbicide resistance technology used in Enlist® corn. Corteva seeks to enjoin Bayer from continuing to infringe, as well as appropriate monetary damages. Bayer has filed an answer to the complaint and has asserted various affirmative defenses including invalidity. The case will now proceed to discovery.
Also in August 2022, Bayer filed breach of contract/declaratory judgment lawsuit in Delaware state court against Corteva relating to an agrobacterium cross-license agreement and E3® soybeans. Bayer alleges that Corteva practiced two Bayer patents in developing E3® soybeans, and therefore, is entitled to royalties pursuant to the terms of the cross-license agreement. In October 2022, Corteva moved to dismiss the complaint on the basis that, under the terms of the cross-license agreement and the law, E3® soybeans cannot infringe expired patents. Oral argument on the motion to dismiss is scheduled for January 2023.
In October 2022, Corteva filed a lawsuit against Bayer in Delaware state court seeking a declaration that, under the terms of Corteva’s licensing agreement and the law, Bayer is not entitled to collect patent royalties on the Roundup Ready® Corn 2 trait after Bayer’s U.S. patent protection expires. Discussions to resolve each of the above disputes remain ongoing.
Litigation related to legacy EID businesses unrelated to Corteva’s current businesses
As discussed below and in Note 12 - Commitments and Contingent Liabilities, to the interim Consolidated Financial Statements, certain of the environmental proceedings and litigation allocated to Corteva as part of the Separation from DuPont relate to the legacy EID businesses, including their use of PFOA, which, for purposes of this report, means collectively perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts, including the ammonium salt and does not distinguish between the two forms, and PFAS, which means per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, including PFOA, PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), GenX and other
perfluorinated chemicals and compounds ("PFCs"). Management believes that it is reasonably possible that EID could incur liabilities related to PFOA in excess of amounts accrued. However, any such losses are not estimable at this time due to various reasons, including, among others, that the underlying matters are in their early stages and have significant factual issues to be resolved.
On January 22, 2021, Chemours, DuPont, Corteva and EID entered into a binding memorandum of understanding containing a settlement to resolve legal disputes related to Chemours' responsibility for litigation and environmental liabilities allocated to it, and to establish a cost sharing arrangement and escrow account to be used to support and manage potential future legacy PFAS liabilities arising out of pre-July 1, 2015 conduct (the “MOU”). See Note 12 - Commitments and Contingent Liabilities, to the interim Consolidated Financial Statements, for further discussion.
Environmental Proceedings
The company believes it is remote that the following matters will have a material impact on its financial position, liquidity or results of operations. The matters below involve the potential for $1 million or more in monetary fines and are included per Item 103(c)(3)(iii) of Regulation S-K of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Related to Corteva's current businesses
La Porte Plant, La Porte, Texas - Crop Protection - Release Incident Investigations
On November 15, 2014, there was a release of methyl mercaptan at EID's La Porte, Texas, facility. The release occurred at the site’s crop protection unit resulting in four employee fatalities inside the unit. The Chemical Safety Board (“CSB”) issued its final report on June 18, 2019, which included recommendations related to the emergency response program at La Porte. Corteva responded to the CSB on September 30, 2019 outlining the actions it has taken to date to address the recommendations for the site and providing its plan to address the CSB’s remaining recommendations. After the conclusion of the CSB investigation, criminal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the Department of Justice ("DOJ") investigations related to the incident continued.
On January 8, 2021, EID and the facility's former unit operations leader were indicted by the DOJ on two felony and one misdemeanor charges of violations of the Clean Air Act related to the release. On January 18, 2022, the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas dismissed the felony charge for failing to implement a safety practice. The maximum statutory penalties per charge are $500,000, or twice the gross gain or loss derived from the incident, as well as up to three years of probation and related ongoing reporting obligations. While the company moved to dismiss the remaining charges, the DOJ appealed the dismissal of the felony charge. In August 2022, the court reversed its prior dismissal of the failing to implement a safety practice charge and denied the company’s motion to dismiss the remaining charges. The trial is currently scheduled for March 2023.
Related to legacy EID businesses unrelated to Corteva’s current businesses
Divested Neoprene Facility, La Place, Louisiana - EPA Compliance Inspection
In 2016, the EPA conducted a focused compliance investigation at the Denka Performance Elastomer LLC (“Denka”) neoprene manufacturing facility in La Place, Louisiana. EID sold the neoprene business, including this manufacturing facility, to Denka in the fourth quarter of 2015. In the spring of 2017, the EPA, the DOJ, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, EID and Denka began discussions relating to the inspection conclusions and allegations of noncompliance arising under the Clean Air Act, including leak detection and repair. These discussions, which include potential settlement options, continue. Under the Separation Agreement, DuPont is defending and indemnifying the company in this matter.
New Jersey Directive PFAS
On March 25, 2019, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) issued a Statewide PFAS Directive to several companies, including Chemours, DuPont, and EID. The Directive seeks information relating to the use and environmental release of PFAS and PFAS-replacement chemicals at and from two former EID sites in New Jersey, Chambers Works and Parlin, and a funding source for costs related to the NJDEP’s investigation of PFAS issues and PFAS testing and remediation.
New Jersey Directive Pompton Lakes
On March 27, 2019, the NJDEP issued to Chemours and EID a Natural Resource Damages Directive relating to chemical contamination (non-PFAS) at and around EID’s former Pompton Lakes facility in New Jersey. The Directive alleges that this contamination has harmed the natural resources of New Jersey. It seeks $125,000 as reimbursement for the cost of preparing a natural resource damages assessment, which the State will use to determine the extent of such damage and the amount it expects to seek to restore the affected natural resources to their pre-damage state.
Natural Resource Damage Cases
Since May 2017, several municipal water districts and state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against EID, Corteva, Chemours and others, claiming contamination of public water systems by PFCs, including but not limited to PFOA. These actions with the municipalities and states seeking economic impact damages for alleged harm to natural resources, punitive damages, present and future costs to cleanup PFOA contamination and the abatement of alleged nuisance with filtration systems. Further information with respect to these proceedings is set forth under "Other PFOA Matters" in Note 12 - Commitments and Contingent Liabilities, to the interim Consolidated Financial Statements.
Netherlands Municipality Cases
In April 2021, four municipalities in the Netherlands filed complaints alleging contamination of land and groundwater resulting from the emission of PFOA and GenX by Corteva, DuPont and Chemours. Further information with respect to these proceedings is set forth under "Other PFOA Matters" in Note 12 - Commitments and Contingent Liabilities, to the interim Consolidated Financial Statements.
Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, AltEn Facility
The EPA and the Nebraska Department of the Environmental and Energy (“NDEE”) are pursuing investigations, response and removal actions, litigation and enforcement action related to an ethanol plant located near Mead, Nebraska and owned and operated by AltEn LLC (“AltEn”). The agencies have alleged violations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and other federal and state laws stemming from AltEn’s lack of compliance with the terms and conditions of its operating permits and other regulatory requirements. Corteva is one of six seed companies, who were customers of AltEn (collectively, the "Facility Response Group"), participating in the NDEE’s Voluntary Cleanup Program to address certain interim remediation needs at the site. In February 2022, Corteva, along with other members of the Facility Response Group, filed a lawsuit against AltEn and certain of its affiliates to preserve certain contractual and common law indemnification claims.
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