Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

General Legal Proceedings

We are subject to extensive and evolving laws and regulations and have implemented safeguards to respond to regulatory requirements. In the normal course of our business, we become involved in legal proceedings. Some may result in fines, penalties or judgments against us, or settlements, which may impact earnings and cash flows for a particular period. Although we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of any legal matter with certainty, we do not believe the outcome of any of our pending legal proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

As used in the immediately following paragraph, the term legal proceedings refers to litigation and similar claims against us and our subsidiaries, excluding: (1) ordinary course accidents, general commercial liability and workers' compensation claims, which are covered by insurance programs, subject to customary deductibles, and which, together with self-insured employee health care costs, are discussed in Note 7, Other Liabilities, to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual report on Form 10-K; and (2) environmental remediation liabilities, which totaled $454.9 million at December 31, 2021 and which are discussed in Note 8, Landfill and Environmental Costs, to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K*.*

We accrue for legal proceedings when losses become probable and reasonably estimable. We have recorded an aggregate accrual of approximately $11 million relating to our outstanding legal proceedings as of December 31, 2021. As of the end of each applicable reporting period, we review each of our legal proceedings and, where it is probable that a liability has been incurred, we accrue for all probable and reasonably estimable losses. Where we are able to reasonably estimate a range of losses we may incur with respect to a matter, we record an accrual for the amount within the range that constitutes our best estimate. If we are able to reasonably estimate a range but no amount within the range appears to be a better estimate than any other, we use the amount that is the low end of such range. If we had used the high ends of such ranges, our aggregate potential liability would be approximately $3 million higher than the amount recorded as of December 31, 2021.

Legal Proceedings over Certain Environmental Matters Involving Governmental Authorities with Possible Sanctions of $1,000,000 or More

Item 103 of the SEC's Regulation S-K requires disclosure of certain environmental matters when a governmental authority is a party to the proceedings and the proceedings involve potential monetary sanctions unless we reasonably believe the monetary sanctions will not equal or exceed a threshold which we determine is reasonably designed to result in disclosure of any such proceeding that is material to our business or financial condition. We have determined such disclosure threshold to be $1,000,000. We have no matters to disclose in accordance with that requirement.