CLARK, Justice.
We granted a writ to determine the proper interpretation of La. R.S. 30:29 and whether Chevron USA Inc. should be dismissed from the suit.
The State of Louisiana and the Vermilion Parish School Board (collectively "School Board" or "plaintiffs") filed a "Petition for Damages to School Lands" on September 2, 2004, seeking damages and remediation of a sixteenth section of property in Vermilion Parish owned by the State and managed by the Vermilion Parish School Board situated in the East White Lake Field. The property at issue was allegedly polluted by oil and gas exploration and production performed pursuant to an oil, gas and mineral lease originally granted on the property in 1935 and a surface lease entered into in 1994. The plaintiffs claim damage to the land's soil, surface waters and ground waters.
The plaintiffs urge various causes of action in their petition including negligence, strict liability, unjust enrichment, trespass, breach of contract and violations of both the Mineral Code and the Civil Code. The plaintiffs seek money damages
Several defendants were named in the original petition and in supplemental and amending petitions as companies which conducted, directed, controlled or participated in various oil and gas exploration and production activities as operators and/or working interest owners, and/or joint venturers in the East White Lake Field. At the time of our review, the remaining defendants are Union Oil Company of California; Union Exploration Partners; Carrollton Resources, L.L.C.; Chevron USA Inc.; and Chevron Midcontinent, L.P.
We are asked to review rulings of the trial court which arose in the context of summary judgments. A motion for partial summary judgment requires our interpretation of La. R.S. 30:29. In a motion for summary judgment, one of the defendants, Chevron USA Inc., seeks dismissal from suit.
The facts concerning the motion for partial summary judgment are as follows. The provisions of La. R.S. 30:29, enacted as Act 312 in 2006, became effective on June 8, 2006.
During discovery, Union Oil Company of California and Union Exploration Partners (collectively "Unocal") admitted "environmental damage," as defined by the statute, exists on the subject property and further admitted its responsibility under the provisions of La. R.S. 30:29(C). As a party admitting responsibility under Act 312, Unocal moved to refer the case to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources ("La.DNR") for determination of a plan for remediation, as required under the act. The plaintiffs objected, arguing such a referral could not take place until the finder of fact determined the responsibility of all of the defendants and adjudicated the private claims asserted by the plaintiffs. Although the trial court initially granted Unocal's motion, the trial court ultimately granted the plaintiffs' motion for new trial on this issue, rescinding its initial judgment and staying all proceedings before the La. DNR, Office of Conservation. The appellate court denied the defendants' writ on this issue, concluding a reasonable time under the statute within which the trial court should order the Unocal defendants to submit a remediation plan to the La. DNR would be some time
Before this court's action on its writ, the defendants filed a motion for partial summary judgment, asserting plaintiffs had no right to seek remediation damages in excess of those found necessary to fund the plan for remediation mandated under the statute to be determined by the court. The defendants argued Act 312 provided such "excess remediation damage" is allowed only under the terms of an express contractual provision. Since the 1935 oil, gas and mineral lease in this case did not include such an express provision, the defendants contended Act 312 acted as a substantive cap on remediation damages resulting from a tort or the implied restoration obligation of a mineral lease. After consideration of the plaintiffs' opposition and discussion of the issue at several hearings, the trial court agreed with the defendants.
The School Board took a writ to the appellate court on this ruling, which was denied on the ground the ruling was a partial judgment which had not been certified as a final judgment. While the writ application was under consideration, the School Board filed a motion in the trial court seeking to have Act 312 declared unconstitutional as applied. The trial court denied this motion and the court of appeal likewise denied a writ, referencing the prior writ application on the same subject matter as a partial judgment and indicating the question of constitutionality could be rendered moot by a successful appeal of the prior ruling. Thereafter, the trial court's rulings on the motion for partial summary judgment and the motion to have Act 312 declared unconstitutional were certified as final judgments, and the School Board lodged an appeal.
The following facts concern the motion for summary judgment. The School Board's suit was filed in September, 2004. Chevron USA Inc. was named as an additional defendant as "successor to Union Oil Company of California," in the plaintiff's "Third Supplemental and Amending Petition for Damages," filed on August 13, 2007. Chevron USA Inc. filed exceptions and an answer to the plaintiffs' third supplemental and amending petition on October 6, 2008, admitting "Chevron U.S.A. Inc. is the successor in interest to Union Oil Company of California...." On July 12, 2010, Chevron USA Inc. filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting it was
From October 6, 2008 until July 12, 2010, Chevron USA Inc. participated in discovery with the rest of the remaining defendants. At times, Chevron USA Inc. was referred to collectively with other companies, including Union Oil Company of California, as "Chevron," or as "Unocal." This occurred even after Union Oil Company of California and Union Exploration Partners admitted responsibility for environmental damage under the Act and, thereby, included Chevron USA Inc. as "Unocal" in its references to admitting responsibility for environmental damage. Moreover, this confusion continued after Chevron USA Inc. filed its motion for summary judgment. In some filings, Chevron USA Inc. was referred to as "UNOCAL USA Inc." either in the body of the document or on the signature line for defense counsel.
Plaintiffs opposed Chevron USA Inc.'s motion for summary judgment, arguing
Thereafter, the defendants filed a motion and order for leave to file an amended answer to the plaintiffs' petition. In this amended answer, the defendants denied Chevron USA Inc. was the successor in interest to Union Oil Company of California, while admitting Union Oil Company of California is the successor in interest to Union Exploration Partners, Ltd. On November 3, 2010, the trial court granted the motion for leave to file an amended answer. Plaintiffs applied for a writ to review that determination.
The corporate deposition of Chevron USA Inc. occurred on October 19, 2010. Chevron USA Inc. subsequently filed a supplemental memorandum to its motion for summary judgment, seeking dismissal, to include its amended answer. After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion for summary judgment, dismissing the claims against Chevron USA Inc. with prejudice and designating the ruling as a final judgment. Plaintiffs took a suspensive appeal from this ruling.
The court of appeal granted the School Board's writ application regarding the trial court's ruling allowing the defendants to amend their answer with the School Board's suspensive appeal of the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Chevron USA Inc. The court of appeal then consolidated these issues relating to Chevron USA Inc. with the School Board's appeal from the partial summary judgment in favor of all of the defendants.
The court of appeal found the language of La. R.S. 30:29 to be clear and unambiguous, notwithstanding the judgment of the trial court and the defendants' arguments. Relying on Section H of the statute, the appellate court held: "La. R.S. 30:29, by its clear language, provides for a landowner to recover damages in excess of those determined in the feasible plan whether they are based on tort or contract law."
The court of appeal further found the trial court erred in granting summary judgment dismissing Chevron USA Inc. from the suit. The appellate court held:
The court of appeal reversed the trial court's judgment granting summary judgment in favor of Chevron USA Inc.
The defendants filed a writ seeking review of the court of appeal's ruling in both regards. We granted the defendants' writ to determine the correct interpretation of Act 312 and whether Chevron USA Inc. should be dismissed from suit.
Both of the issues presented for our consideration come to us as summary judgments. As we recently stated in Smitko v. Gulf South Shrimp, Inc., 2011-2566, p. 7 (La.7/2/12); 94 So.3d 750, 755, "[a]ppellate review of the granting of a motion for summary judgment is de novo, using the identical criteria that govern the trial court's consideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate." A motion for summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." La. C.C.P. art. 966; Smitko, supra. This court has explained, a "genuine issue" is a "triable issue," or "one as to which reasonable persons could disagree." Hogg v. Chevron, 2009-2632, p. 6 (La.7/6/10); 45 So.3d 991, 997; Champagne v. Ward, 2003-3211, p. 5 (La.1/19/05); 893 So.2d 773, 777. A "material fact" is a fact, the existence or non-existence of which may be essential to a cause of action under the applicable theory of recovery. Hogg, supra; Champagne, supra.
The burden of proof remains with the moving party. La. C.C.P. art. 966(C)(2). However, a moving party who does not bear the burden of proof at trial is not required to negate all essential elements of the adverse party's claim, but is required to point out an absence of factual support for one or more of its essential elements. Id. If the non-moving party fails to produce contrary factual support sufficient to establish it will be able to satisfy the evidentiary burden of proof at trial, there is no genuine issue of material fact. Id.
When summary judgment is granted in the context of statutory interpretation, there are no material issues of fact in dispute and the sole issue before us is a question of law as to the correct interpretation of the statute at issue. Vizzi v. Lafayette City-Parish Government, 2011-2648, p. 2 (La.7/2/12); 93 So.3d 1260, 1262. Legislation is the solemn expression of the will of the legislature. La. C.C. art. 2; First Nat. Bank, USA v. DDS Const., LLC, 2011-1418, p. 12 (La.1/24/12); 91 So.3d 944, 953. The determination of the legislature's will must start with the language of the statute itself. McGlothlin v. Christus St. Patrick Hosp., 2010-2775, p. 11 (La.7/1/11); 65 So.3d 1218, 1227. The words used must be interpreted as they are generally understood. La. C.C. art. 11; McGlothlin, 2010-2775, p. 11; 65 So.3d at 1228. When the words of a statute are clear and unambiguous, and the application of the law does not lead to absurd consequences, the statute should be applied as written and no further effort should be made to determine the legislature's intent. La. C.C. art. 9; La. R.S. 1:4; In re: Succession of Faget, 2010-0188, p. 8-9 (La.11/30/10); 53 So.3d 414, 420. Accordingly, we are bound to a strict interpretation
When there is long-standing interpretation of a legal issue or several laws on a particular subject matter, we must also give due regard to the well-settled rules of statutory construction succinctly set forth in M.J. Farms, Ltd. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 2007-2371, p. 13-14 (La.7/1/08); 998 So.2d 16, 27:
With these rules of statutory interpretation in mind, we now turn to a brief review of the law and jurisprudence relevant to the context into which the legislature enacted Act 312.
Plaintiffs' petition seeking damages and remediation of property states causes of action in contract and tort, and violations of both the Civil Code and the Mineral Code. We will look at the source of each claim.
The plaintiffs' contract claims are based on the mineral leases granted on the property. "Mineral leases are construed as leases generally, and the provisions of the Civil Code applicable to ordinary leases, when pertinent, are applied to mineral leases." Caskey v. Kelly Oil Co., 1998-1193, p. 9 (La.6/29/99); 737 So.2d 1257, 1262; see also La. R.S. 31:2.
The parties agree the 1935 oil, gas and mineral lease does not contain an express provision regarding the lessee's remediation
Plaintiffs allege violations of the Mineral Code. As stated, before enactment of the Mineral Code, jurisprudence relying on the Civil Code articles recognized the lessee's duty as encompassing, inter alia, the obligation to restore the surface as near as practical on completion of operations. Caskey, 1998-1193, p. 6; 737 So.2d at 1261.
The Louisiana Mineral Code, set forth in La. R.S. 31:1 et seq., was enacted in 1974 and went into effect on January 1, 1975. Broussard v. Hilcorp Energy Co., 2009-0449, p. 4 (La.10/20/09); 24 So.3d 813, 816. After the Mineral Code was enacted, some courts believed the restoration obligation of the lessee might be viewed as a part of the general standard of a mineral lessee's obligation to act as a reasonably prudent operator under La. R.S. 31:122.
In Terrebonne Parish School Bd. v. Castex Energy, Inc., 2004-0968, p. 10 (La.1/9/05); 893 So.2d 789, 797, this court noted the text of La. R.S. 31:122 does
Plaintiffs also assert several tort claims in their petition, including negligence, strict liability, unjust enrichment, and trespass. Although asserting several tort theories of recovery, these claims all stem from the obligation imposed in La. C.C. art. 2315: "Every act whatever of man that causes damage to another obliges him by whose fault it happened to repair it."
This court has held "[o]ne injured through the fault of another is entitled to full indemnification for damages caused thereby." Roman Catholic Church of Archdiocese of New Orleans v. Louisiana Gas Service Co., 618 So.2d 874, 876 (La.1993); Coleman v. Victor, 326 So.2d 344, 346 (La.1976). "When property is damaged through the legal fault of another, the primary objective is to restore the property as nearly as possible to the state it was in immediately preceding the damage...." Coleman, 326 So.2d at 346. "Accordingly, the measure of damages is the cost of restoring the property to its former condition. In assessing damage to property, generally, courts have considered the cost of restoration as the proper measure of damage where the thing damaged can be adequately repaired." Id., 326 So.2d at 346-347.
While stating the "primary objective" of recovery "is to restore the property as nearly as possible to the original state," the court has acknowledged that, "at times, restoration is not possible and is sometimes not cost effective." Hornsby v. Bayou Jack Logging, 2004-1297, p. 9 (La.5/6/05); 902 So.2d 361, 367. In Roman Catholic Church, supra, we held:
In 2003, this court decided Corbello v. Iowa Production, 2002-0826 (La.2/25/03); 850 So.2d 686. Landowners filed suit against a mineral lessee to recover damages in trespass after expiration of a surface lease, for unauthorized disposal of saltwater on the property, and for the poor condition of the leased premises. In addition to other damage awards, the jury awarded the landowners $33 million to restore the leased premises to its condition at the time the lease was entered into. The mineral lease at issue in Corbello contained an express provision the lessee would "reasonably restore the premises as nearly as possible to their present condition." Id., 2002-0826, p. 6-7; 850 So.2d at 694.
This court held damages to immovable property should not be governed by the rule enunciated in Roman Catholic Church. In other words, the amount of damages would not be tied to the value of the land. In Corbello, we said:
After reviewing the damages awarded for restoration under the manifest error standard, we affirmed the $33 million award. Id., 2002-0826, p. 12; 850 So.2d at 697.
A large part of the damages plaintiffs recovered were for restoration of groundwater damage which threatened the Chicot Aquifer, the source of drinking water for Lake Charles, Louisiana. In this court, the mineral lessee argued the appellate court's affirmance of this award to plaintiffs for what is strictly an alleged public injury was error, where the plaintiffs had no legal duty to use the award to restore the property. We found the contamination of the groundwater was both a public injury and a private injury, which would not prevent plaintiffs from collecting damages. Id., 2002-0826, p. 16; 850 So.2d at 699.
We noted the legislature had not implemented "a procedure to ensure that landowners will in fact use the money to clean the property." Id. We recognized the two opposing public policy concerns which the then-existing state of the law created. At that time, a landowner suing for remediation of contaminated land could sue and receive remediation damages, yet was under no obligation to use the damage award to restore the property. At the same time, there was a strong possibility that land would remain polluted if landowners could not bring suit for remediation. Id., 2002-0826, p. 20, 850 So.2d at 701.
In Corbello, we observed plaintiffs who were awarded remediation damages were under no statutory obligation to perform remediation work. The purpose of Act 312 was to create such an obligation. In Act 312, the legislature provided a mechanism whereby the landowner does not receive that portion of the remediation award needed to fund the statutorily mandated plan to remediate the property to a point that protects the public's interest. As the following analysis will show, Act 312 ensures the damages awarded for remediation will be used only for remediation
We agree with the court of appeal the language of Act 312 is clear and unambiguous. We will presently describe each section of the Act, but its overall effect is this: The procedure described under the Act does not interfere with private rights, whether they arise contractually or by law. The procedure under the Act does not prohibit the award of remediation damages for more than the amount necessary to fund the statutorily mandated feasible plan, nor does the procedure described in the Act intrude into the manner in which remediation damages are determined. The Act makes no changes to the normal trial procedures established by the Code of Civil Procedure. The only change accomplished by Act 312 is how the damages to remediate property are spent. Under Act 312, landowners do not receive that portion of the remediation damages award needed to fund the statutorily mandated feasible plan; these funds must be deposited into the registry of the court. Finally, although the La. DNR has input into the plan to remediate the property, the final decision as to the remediation plan adopted rests with the court. Throughout the remediation process, the court remains the gatekeeper to ensure the purpose of the Act is accomplished — remediation of the property to the extent of the public's interest.
In Subsection (A), the legislature clearly states its intention in enacting this legislation.
The temporal order of procedural events in cases to which Act 312 applies is plainly set out in the statute. First, suit making a judicial demand covered by the Act is filed. La. R.S. 30:29(B)(1).
Subsection C of the statute sets forth the additional, mandated procedures to be used for the determination of a remediation plan post-trial, as well as the appellate review of those determinations. At trial (in the absence of an admission), the finder of fact must initially determine whether environmental damage exists and whether the defendant or defendants are legally responsible therefore.
Thereafter, the department holds a public hearing on the submissions. La. R.S. 30:29(C)(2).
Instead, the plan approved by the department is sent to the court for its review. The plaintiff or any other party may submit its own plan, comment or input in response, within a certain time frame. La. R.S. 30:29(C)(1). Unless a party proves by a preponderance of evidence that another plan is a more feasible plan, the court shall adopt the plan approved by the department. If the court enters a judgment adopting a plan other than the one approved by the department, the court shall assign written reasons. Once a plan is determined, the court shall order the party or parties admitting responsibility or found legally responsible by the court to fund the implementation of the plan. In making this determination, the court will decide how much of the damages are to be used
The court's judgment adopting a plan of evaluation or remediation and ordering the legally responsible parties to deposit funds into the court's registry shall be considered a final judgment for appeal purposes. La. R.S. 30:29(C)(6)(a).
Subsection D of the statute provides how the most feasible plan is implemented. Subsection (1) states:
The defendants point to this subsection as authority for their argument that Act 312 caps remediation damages as the amount determined necessary to fund feasible plan. However, the defendants read Section D in isolation, without considering the other provisions of the statute, particularly Subsection H referenced therein, or the limited nature of the focus of the procedure enacted by the legislature. The legislature has not, in this solely procedural statute, stripped landowners of any of their substantive rights. The statute repeatedly assures this.
Subsection D(1) must be read with Subsection (H), which provides:
Reading the two subsections together, it is clear that when Subsection D(1) provides: "except as provided in Subsection H... all damages ... awarded for the evaluation or remediation of environmental damage shall be paid exclusively into the registry of the court ...," that means the amount of remediation damages necessary to fund the feasible plan adopted by the court, i.e. all damages awarded for the evaluation or remediation of environmental damage to a standard that protects the public interest. The defendants' arguments that rely on Subsection D(1) have no merit as they simply fail to take into account the entirety of the provisions of the subsection.
The rest of Subsection D and Subsection F concern housekeeping matters with regard to the deposit of the funds into the registry of the court to fund the feasible plan and their expenditure. In addition, the continuing oversight of the court and the department is provided. If the court determines the amount of the funds deposited is insufficient to complete the approved evaluation and remediation of the property, the court may, on the motion of any party or on its own motion, order the parties found legally responsible to deposit additional funds into the court's registry. Once the evaluation or remediation is complete, any remaining funds are to be returned to the depositor.
The legislature further provided in Subsection E the party or parties admitting responsibility or found legally responsible for environmental damage would pay the costs of the department, the attorney general and the parties providing evidence upon which the judgment is based, as well as attorneys fees.
In their brief, the defendants claim the court of appeal's holding is inconsistent with our decisions in M.J. Farms, supra and Marin v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 2009-2368 (La.10/19/10); 48 So.3d 234. Nothing in our interpretation of Act 312 in the present case conflicts with these two previous holdings of the court.
At issue in M.J. Farms was the applicability of Act 312 and whether it could be applied to a case filed before its effective date. We held the provisions of Act 312 "are called into play" whenever a private suit is filed which involves environmental damage subject to the jurisdiction of the La. DNR. Id., 2007-2371, p. 15; 998 So.2d at 28. We also held Act 312 applied "retrospectively and prospectively except for the limited number of cases for which an order had been issued or signed setting the case for trial as of March 27, 2006." Id., 2007-2371, p. 20; 998 So.2d at 30.
This court also answered some constitutional questions raised by application of the statute to the claims asserted by the plaintiff in M.J. Farms. Referencing Subsection H of the statute, we held Act 312 was not a substantive amendment of the law and the plaintiff was not divested of any of his causes of action. Id., 2007-2371, p. 26-27; 998 So.2d at 34-35. We found the provisions of Act 312 represented a reasonable restriction on a party's private rights under La. Const. art. 1, Section 4,
In our review of Act 312 and the procedure it enacted, we noted six basic components to the legislation. We then provided a general outline of the statute.
Finally, in M.J. Farms, we noted Act 312 "changes the remedy available to [the plaintiff] in its efforts to obtain surface
The defendants rely on Marin as authority for their argument that the plaintiffs are not entitled to more than a regulatory clean-up, even if they acted unreasonably or excessively under the lease. In effect, the defendants argue Act 312 not only functions as a cap on remediation damages, but the procedure it enacts did away with a landowner's rights under Castex. The defendants fail to carefully read our holdings in Marin, and instead, cite to a portion of the opinion where the arguments of the defendants were presented.
In Marin, plaintiffs filed suit seeking damages and remediation of property under both contract and tort. After a five-day bench trial, the trial court found the mineral lessee defendants acted unreasonably and negligently in their operations. In addition to other awards, plaintiffs were awarded compensatory damages in the amount the court found it would take to remediate the soil to state regulatory standards. Id., 2009-2368, p. 7-8; 48 So.3d at 242-243. In determining the plaintiffs' rights under the contract claims, we reviewed the relevant articles under the Civil Code and Mineral Code. Id., 2009-2368, p. 29-32; 48 So.3d at 255-256. We concluded:
Far from abandoning the requirements of Castex, Marin reaffirmed them. After finding the defendants acted unreasonably and excessively under their mineral
In Marin, we reviewed the degree of remediation in a case already tried. In this case, the plaintiffs' contract and tort claims have not been determined by a finder of fact. In addition to the questions necessary to determine the applicability of Act 312, i.e. whether environmental damage exists and whether the defendants are the party or parties legally responsible for the damage, the finder of fact in this case will have to make several determinations in resolving the plaintiffs' contract and tort claims. Only after all of the plaintiffs' claims have been heard, and a finding is made the plaintiffs are entitled to remediation of the property, will the procedure mandated in La. R.S. 30:29 come into play, as described supra.
After our de novo review, we find the court of appeal correctly reversed the ruling of the trial court on the motion for partial summary judgment. On the legal question of the correct interpretation of La. R.S. 30:29, we affirm the court of appeal's decision for the reasons expressed herein.
Defendants moved for summary judgment, seeking the dismissal of Chevron USA Inc. from the suit. Attached to its motion was an affidavit of Frank Soler, the senior liaison in the subsidiary governance unit of the corporate governance department for Chevron Corp., the parent organization to both Chevron USA Inc. and Union Oil Company of California. Mr. Soler's affidavit was supplemented by his deposition when he was deposed as the corporate representative of Chevron USA Inc. in a limited fashion ordered by the court.
In his deposition, Mr. Soler detailed the corporate histories of both Chevron USA Inc. and Union Oil Company of California, or Unocal, and stated the two companies are separate and do not overlap. Mr. Soler testified these two companies do not have an ownership interest in each other, nor do they influence or control each other. According to Mr. Soler, the liabilities and assets of Union Oil Company of California were not transferred out of that company when it was acquired by Chevron Corp. Mr. Soler indicated the assets of Union Oil Company of California were $18 billion, and that any judgment against it would be paid from its funds alone.
However, Mr. Soler also indicated Union Oil Company of California does not have any employees at this time and Chevron USA Inc. was one of various entities that may have entered into general service agreements with the Unocal entities. Mr. Soler testified there are, or may be, service agreements in place between the companies, including day to day business operations and transactions which could include environmental issues.
Although Chevron USA Inc. is the party moving for summary judgment, it will not bear the burden of proof at trial. Thus, Chevron USA Inc. is not required to negate all essential elements of plaintiffs' claim against it, but is only required to point out an absence of factual support for one or more of its essential elements. The plaintiffs have argued they have not been
We agree with the court of appeal's conclusion that there seems to be, at the very least, a genuine issue of material fact as to Chevron USA Inc.'s successor status to Union Oil Company of California. Chevron USA Inc.'s initial answer and subsequent conduct in discovery, some of which could be dismissed as mere inattention to detail, was still more than mere inadvertence. Plaintiffs were allowed only a very limited corporate deposition of Chevron USA Inc. and have not had access to the service agreements referenced in Mr. Soler's deposition. On this basis, we must agree with the court of appeal that, at this time, Chevron USA Inc. is not entitled to summary judgment. Consequently, we affirm the court of appeal's opinion in this regard.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the court of appeal reversing the trial court's granting of the motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of remediation damages is affirmed. The judgment of the court of appeal reversing the trial court's granting of the motion for summary judgment dismissing from suit Chevron USA Inc. is also affirmed. The case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. All costs of these proceedings are taxed equally among the defendants.
Retired Judge ROBERT J. KLEES, assigned as Justice ad hoc, sitting for KNOLL, J., recused.
VICTORY, Justice, dissents in part.
GUIDRY, Justice, concurs in the result and assigns reasons.
GUIDRY, J., concurs in the result and assigns reasons.
I concur in the result reached by the majority in this case, which reverses the trial court's ruling granting the defendants' motion for partial summary judgment pursuant to La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 966 on the issue of recoverable "excess or additional remediation damages" in the absence of a contractual provision otherwise. The legal question presented by this case is whether an owner of land, in the absence of an express contractual provision, may recover remediation damages in excess of, or in addition to, those required to fund the remediation plan selected by the trial court pursuant to La.Rev.Stat. 30:29, enacted by Act 312 of 2006. In my view, there appears to be no distinction between the environmental remediation damages to which the plaintiffs are entitled under the Civil Code and the Mineral Code, absent an express contractual provision for remediation to a different standard, and the compensatory award to fund the so-called "feasible plan" for remediation of the land envisioned by La.Rev.Stat. 30:29, which was enacted to ensure that the environmental damage is remediated to applicable regulatory standards so as to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. See La.Rev.Stat. 30:29 A and 30:29 G. Therefore, I question whether the legislature intended to allow "excess or additional" recovery for remediation beyond that required to fund the remediation plan selected by the trial court pursuant to La.Rev.Stat. 30:29, which could, if such "excess or additional remediation" damages were even proved, thwart the goal of the legislation.
Under La.Rev.Stat. 30:29, when the plaintiffs prove they are entitled to remediation of oilfield contamination, or the defendants admit liability, as in this case, the statute provides for an orderly and certain
I agree with the majority that Act 312 of 2006 which enacted La.Rev.Stat. 30:29 is procedural, rather than substantive, because it neither created new rights nor modified any substantive rights that existed prior to its enactment. Indeed, this court specifically found the Act to be procedural in M.J. Farms, Ltd. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 07-2371 (La.7/1/08), 998 So.2d 16. La.Rev.Stat. 30:29 is intended to effectuate an orderly and certain procedure governing and implementing the remedy of environmental remediation in oilfield legacy cases, once the plaintiffs have asserted, and proven, a claim for remediation of environmental damages or the defendant has admitted to liability therefor.
Because La.Rev.Stat. 30:29 is procedural in nature, the plaintiffs, as well as the defendants, enjoy only the substantive
More recently, in Marin v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 09-2368 (La.10/19/10), 48 So.3d 234, 256, the court was confronted with the issue of what standard is to be used for the award of compensatory damages for remediation of subsurface contamination caused by a lessee. The plaintiffs there asserted the compensatory awards should have been based on the amount necessary to restore the land to its original condition, rather than the amount sufficient to restore the land to statewide regulatory standards, that is, pursuant to the plan selected by the trial court under La.Rev. Stat. 30:29 B. They argued that under Castex they were entitled to restoration of the property to the original pre-lease condition, rather than solely the correction or remediation of the environmental damages as set forth in the adopted plan, because the defendant, as the trial court found, had exercised its rights under the lease unreasonably or excessively. This court found no merit to the plaintiffs' argument, and explained the duty of the lessee as follows:
09-2368, pp. 37-38, 48 So.3d at 260 (footnotes omitted).
Thus, Castex and Marin instruct that, unless the lessee admits liability, the lessor, to be entitled to remediation of oilfield contamination under Louisiana law, must establish that the environmental damage exceeded the normal wear and tear envisioned by the lease and was caused by the lessee's excessive and unreasonable exercise of its rights under the lease, to which the lessor had not consented. Thereafter, the lessee has the duty, in the absence of an express lease provision providing for a different standard, to correct and repair the environmental damage using the most feasible plan for remediation as selected by the trial court pursuant to La.Rev.Stat. 30:29 B. The statute allows active participation of the plaintiffs in the selection of the plan, and any plan selected by the trial court may be the subject of an appeal.
In sum, I concur in the result, which reverses the partial summary judgment in favor of the defendant. I write separately because I question whether the legislature intended that a landowner, in the absence of a contract to the contrary, may recover remediation damages in excess of, or in addition to, those required to fund the feasible plan for remediation selected by the trial court pursuant to La.Rev.Stat. 30:29.
I dissent from the portion of the majority opinion holding that La. R.S. 30:29 allows the recovery of remediation damages in excess of, or in addition to, those required to fund the remediation plan selected by the trial court in the absence of an express contractual provision. In essence, I agree with much of the reasoning of Justice Guidry's concurrence, but in my view, because it is uncontested there was no private contract providing for any remediation which would have exceeded Rule 29B standards, there are no material facts in dispute which would preclude granting defendant's motion for partial summary judgment.
In this case, plaintiffs filed suit seeking damages for remediation of its property caused by defendants' oil and gas exploration and production on its property. In its petition, plaintiffs claimed entitlement to recover two categories of damages: (1) the amount required to fund the "feasible plan" under La. R.S. 30:29, and (2) "excess remediation damages." Defendants filed a motion for partial summary judgment for dismissal of plaintiffs' claims for remediation damages in excess of the costs of a regulatory remediation. According to defendants, excess remediation damages for environmental damages are only recoverable in accordance with an express contractual provision. It is undisputed that there is no such express contractual provision in this case. The trial court granted defendant's motion for partial summary judgment, but the court of appeal reversed, holding that "La. R.S. 30:29, by its clear language, provides for a landowner to recover damages in excess of those determined in the [regulatory-based] feasible plan whether they be based on tort or contract law ..." State of Louisiana v. Louisiana Land and Exploration Co., 2010-1341 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/1/12), 85 So.3d 158, 162. The majority affirms the court of appeal's judgment "on the legal question of the correct interpretation of La. R.S. 30:29, ..." Op. at 1058. I completely disagree.
The rules of statutory construction provide that when the words of a statute are clear and unambiguous, and the application of the law does not lead to absurd consequences, the statute should be applied as written and no further effort should be made to determine the legislature's intent. La. C.C. art. 9; La. R.S. 1:4. Both the court of appeal and the majority opinion have ignored these basic rules in their interpretation of La. R.S. 30:29, which, in several clear provisions, limits the recovery of remediation damages to those awarded by the trial court in its determination of the most feasible regulatory plan, unless there is an express contractual provision providing otherwise.
First, there is the Legislature's statement of Act 312's intent found at La. R.S. 30:29(A):
Second, La. R.S. 30:29(D)(1) unambiguously and unequivocally provides that "except as provided in Subsection H of this Section, all damages or payments in any civil action, including interest thereon, awarded for the evaluation or remediation of environmental damage shall be paid exclusively into the registry of the court..." (Emphasis added.)
La. R.S. 30:29(H), wherein any exception from the requirement that all remediation damages be paid into the registry of the court, provides as follows:
Thus, there are two exceptions to the rule that "all remediation damages" must be paid into the registry of the court. The first sentence of La. R.S. 30:29(H) provides that La. R.S. 30:29 does not preclude an award "for private claims suffered as a result of environmental damage, except as otherwise provided in this Section." Both the court of appeal and majority opinion conclude that these "private claims" include claims for excess remediation damages. However, if this were true, there would be no need for the second sentence of La. R.S. 30:29(H), which specifically covers claims for damages for "additional remediation in excess of the requirements of the plan adopted by the court pursuant to this Section," and allows such damages "as may be required in accordance with the terms of an express contractual provision." As an exception to the "all remediation damages" rule of La. R.S. 30:29(D)(1), these awards for "additional remediation" are not required to be paid into the registry of the court.
Further, while the majority consistently, and correctly, refers to La. R.S. 30:29 as a procedural statute, it goes on to conclude that "this procedural statute does nothing to the substantive rights of the landowner, whether arising out of (1) the implied obligations of the mineral lease under the Civil Code or (2) the implied obligation arising out of La. R.S. 31:122 if the landowner can show a mineral lessee has acted unreasonably or excessively under the lease." Op. at 1054. However, by giving the landowner the substantive right to collect excess remediation damages in the absence of an express contractual provision, the majority opinion conflicts with La. R.S. 30:29(H) which states that "[t]his Section shall not be interpreted to create any cause of action or to impose additional implied obligations under the mineral code or arising out of a mineral lease." By referencing these new "implied obligations," the majority opinion is doing just what is prohibited in La. R.S. 30:29(H), not to mention creating substantive rights under what this Court in M.J. Farms, Ltd. v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 07-2371 (La.7/1/08), 998 So.2d 16, has already held is a procedural statute. That these "implied obligations" are newly created substantive rights is evident because we held in Marin v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 09-2368 (La.10/19/10), 48 So.3d 234, 256, an opinion which I authored, that remediation to 29B standards was all
Marin, supra, 48 So.3d at 260. Therefore, as we have heretofore held that there are no implied obligations under either the Mineral Code or the Civil Code to provide anything more than a regulatory remediation in compliance with La. R.S. 30:29 in the absence of an express contractual provision, the majority's holding that a landowner is indeed entitled to such excess remediation damages in the absence of an express contractual provision amounts to the creation of new substantive rights. This is in conflict with both Marin, as explained above, and M.J. Farms, which held that La. R.S. 30:29, is a procedural, and not substantive, statute.
Thus, not only is the majority's opinion contrary to the express provisions of La. R.S. 30:29, it conflicts with prior holdings of this Court interpreting La. R.S. 30:29. For these reasons, I dissent from the portion of the majority opinion which affirmed the court of appeal's reversal of the trial court's grant of defendants' motion for partial summary judgment. I agree with the majority's holding regarding Chevron USA's motion for summary judgment.
While agreeing the plaintiff proved its entitlement to an award of damages, Justice Lemmon proposed the following as a remedy:
A. The legislature hereby finds and declares that Article IX, Section 1 of the Constitution of Louisiana mandates that the natural resources and the environment of the state, including ground water, are to be protected, conserved, and replenished insofar as possible and consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of the people and further mandates that the legislature enact laws to implement this policy. It is the duty of the legislature to set forth procedures to ensure that damage to the environment is remediated to a standard that protects the public interest. To this end, this Section provides the procedure for judicial resolution of claims for environmental damage to property arising from activities subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of Natural Resources, office of conservation. The provisions of this Section shall be implemented upon receipt of timely notice as required by Paragraph (B)(1) of this Section. The provisions of this Section shall not be construed to impede or limit provisions under private contracts imposing remediation obligations in excess of the requirements of the department or limit the right of a party to a private contract to enforce any contract provision in a court of proper jurisdiction.
07-2371, 998 So.2d at 36.
07-2371, 998 So.2d at 38.