Opinion ID: 1711399
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: LDWF Secretary's Authority

Text: The Jurisichs further argue in support of their request for a preliminary injunction that the Secretary had no authority to include the navigation and oilfield clause because this clause did not develop the oyster industry as La.R.S. 56:425(C) requires. As stated hereinabove, the navigation and oilfield clause which the Secretary required in the renewal leases provided: The lease is issued under the condition that it is subservient to navigation, maintenance of navigation, and all normal, usual and permissible mineral and oil field activity which has been sanctioned by the State of Louisiana through a prior existing lease, permit, or contract. La.R.S. 56:425(C) recognizes that the Secretary may make such stipulations in the leases made by him as he deems necessary and proper to develop the [oyster] industry  provided that the clauses are consistent with the statutory provisions of Subpart D. (emphasis added). Notwithstanding, La.R.S. 56:6(16) provides that the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission through its Secretary [s]hall assist in protecting all lessees of private oyster bedding grounds in the enjoyment of their rights.  (emphasis added). Basic to the oyster lessees' lease rights is La.R.S. 56:423(B) which provides, in pertinent part: (1) A lessee of oyster beds or grounds who has obtained, recorded, and marked his lease in compliance with the law shall have the right to maintain an action for damages against any person, partnership, corporation or other entity causing wrongful or negligent injury or damage to the beds or grounds under lease to such lessee.    (3) Any action for damages under this Section shall be brought within one year of the occurrence of the wrongful or negligent act, or within one year of the date of discovery of such act, whichever last occurs. Against that backdrop, the Jurisichs contend that the navigation and oilfield clause which the Secretary inserted at the time of lease renewal was prohibited because its inclusion did not develop the oyster injury. They argue that the trial stipulation that the litigants entered into the record conclusively establishes that the clause was not inserted for the development of the oyster industry. That trial stipulation provides: Beginning in at least the 1960's, it was the practice of the Department [of Wildlife and Fisheries] to include a clause in certain oyster leases when there was a potential conflict between the oyster lease and a pre-existing lease or right-of-way, both located in the same area. The purpose of the clause was to protect an oil and gas company from claims against it brought by a subsequent oyster lessee in the same area claiming damages for oyster mortality and bed damage as a result of the normal operations of the oil and gas company. (emphasis added). They further argue that the navigation and oilfield clause requires oyster lessees to waive their cause of action for negligent or wrongful injury granted in La.R.S. 56:423(B)(1), and that such action is inconsistent with the provisions of Subpart D, and clearly exceeds the Secretary's authority, because none of this develops the oyster industry. Defendants counter by relying on the trial court's finding that the clause did not limit the oyster lessees' cause of action because the language of that lease provision rendered oyster leases only subservient to normal, usual and permissible activity while La.R.S. 56:423(B)(1) allowed oyster lessees to bring suit only for wrongful or negligent activity. Defendants further construe the clause to recognize this Court's pronouncement in Inabnet which attempted to balance the rights of an oyster lessee and the holder of a surface lease and servitude that involved correlative rights and obligations. To the contrary, the Jurisichs assert that the lower courts misconstrued the clause by finding that navigation and maintenance of navigation was modified by the limiting phrase, normal, usual and permissible. Our first task then is to discern the meaning of the clause. Initially, we find that the lower courts misconstrued the wording of the clause. The activities of navigation and maintenance of navigation are not qualified by the terms normal, usual and permissible. As provided in the added lease clause, only normal, usual, and permissible mineral and oil field activity which exists as per a pre-existing lease, permit, or contract primes the oyster leases. Accordingly, the clear wording of the clause does not limit the types of navigation and maintenance of navigation, and makes these oyster leases subservient to all such activity. The next question then presented is whether the clause language which makes oyster leases subservient to all normal, usual and permissible mineral and oil field activity conflicts with the grant in La.R.S. 56:423(B)(1) to oyster lessees of the right to seek damages against those who wrongfully or negligently injure or damage the beds or grounds under the lease. After carefully examining this issue, we find that the language of this clause contravenes the rights lessees may possess against mineral lessees under stipulation pour autrui clauses that may exist in State mineral leases as recognized in Andrepont v. Acadia Drilling Co., 255 La. 347, 231 So.2d 347 (1969), and further contravenes our holding in Inabnet. Andrepont recognized that a farming lessee is entitled to damages to his crops caused by the non-negligent activity of a mineral lessee because the mineral lease obligated the mineral lessee to pay all damages that its operations caused. In essence, we recognized that such clause acted as a stipulation pour autrui in favor of the farm lessee which was not dependent upon negligence. Similarly, in the present case, the parties introduced a standard Louisiana mineral lease form into evidence which provides, in pertinent part: In addition to restoration of the leased premises as contemplated and required by this lease, Lessee shall be responsible for all damages to the leased premises, and in addition thereto and without limitation for all damages to any timber, crops, roads, buildings, fences, and other improvements thereon. If a stipulation pour autrui, such as the above, was contained in a pre-existing mineral lease and such lessee damaged the Jurisichs' oyster leases in the course of their normal, usual and permissible activity, such conduct would be wrongful as contemplated in La.R.S. 56:423(B)(1) and would be actionable. It is in this manner that the proposed clause would be inconsistent with this statutorily granted right. Simply stated, such a provision would deprive an oyster lessee of this right to recover damages which were wrongful under La.R.S. 56:423(B)(1), but not necessarily the result of the mineral lessee's negligence. Likewise, LDWF's proposed clause further conflicts with our holding in Inabnet. We did not simplistically hold in Inabnet that the existence of a pre-existing mineral lease cuts off any action on the part of the subsequent oyster lessee. Such a factor is but one consideration in the adjudication of the delictual liability of parties who hold correlative rights to the property. [7] In that case, it was Exxon's actual exercise of its dredging rights ten years prior to plaintiffs acquisition of an oyster lease and its maintenance of that dredging activity consistent with its initial servitude which precluded plaintiffs recovery of damages to the 8.2 acres in question. Inabnet, 642 So.2d at 1253. Lastly, defendants maintain that application of the public trust doctrine underscores the Secretary's duty to include such a clause in renewal leases. In particular, they argue that the inclusion of the navigation and oilfield stipulation clause promotes further harmony between the oyster lessees and the oil and gas industry, thereby enhancing the State's natural resources as a whole. LA. CONST. art. IX, § 1 provides, in pertinent part: The natural resources of the state, including air and water, and the healthful, scenic, historic, and esthetic quality of the environment shall be protected, conserved, and replenished insofar as possible and consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of the people. The legislature shall enact laws to implement this policy. (emphasis added). Commenting upon this italicized portion of the constitutional article, we stated in Save Ourselves v. Louisiana Environ. Control Comm'n, 452 So.2d 1152, 1157 (La.1984): This is a rule of reasonableness which requires an agency or official, before granting approval of proposed action affecting the environment, to determine that adverse environmental impacts have been minimized or avoided as much as possible consistently with the public welfare. Thus, the constitution does not establish environmental protection as an exclusive goal, but requires a balancing process in which environmental costs and benefits must be given full and careful consideration along with economic, social and other factors. The Legislature is vested with the legislative power of the state. LA. CONST. art. III, § 1. Unless the Constitution expressly provides otherwise, neither another branch of government nor any person holding office in one of them, may exercise the legislative power. Simply stated, no one else can legislate but the Legislature. LA.CONST. Art. II, §§ 1, 2; City of Alexandria v. Fire Fighters Ass'n Local No. 540, 220 La. 754, 57 So.2d 673 (1952). Correspondingly, if the Constitution limits the authority of the Legislature to delegate to administrative agencies, the corollary that follows is that those agencies cannot exceed the authority that the Legislature has granted them. In the present case, the control and supervision of all wildlife of the State, including all aquatic life is charged to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission and LDWF. La.R.S. 36:601; 602. Moreover, as provided in La.R.S. 56:425 the Secretary is authorized to execute oyster leases and shall renew oyster leases as dictated in La.R.S. 56:428(A). Furthermore, pursuant to La.R.S. 56:6(16) the Secretary is duty-bound to protect all lessees of private oyster bedding grounds in the enjoyment of their rights. In light of these specifically authorized duties, we cannot agree with defendants' argument that the public trust doctrine primes statutorily defined duties. Although defendants posit their argument in terms of enhancement of the State's natural resources, they lose sight of the primary task the Legislature identified and the legislation which granted them specific powers in the performance of that task. Moreover, by seeking to include the navigation and oilfield clause in the Jurisichs' leases, as evidenced by their trial stipulation, they intend to protect oil and gas compan[ies] from claims against [them] brought by ... subsequent oyster lesssee[s], not the oyster lessees whose specific welfare they have been charged to protect. Such action overlooks the importance of the oyster industry as a natural resource of the State and improperly equates environmental protection with the adjudication of correlative rights between co-equal stewards of natural resources. Furthermore, defendants' position impermissibly encroaches on the function of the Legislature in the resolution of the turf wars between the oyster lessees and mineral lessees. In an effort to resolve those battles, the Legislature formed the Oyster Lease Damage Evaluation Board as an arm of the Department of Natural Resources to arbitrate conflicts between mineral owners and oyster leaseholders to effect an equitable solution ... which will result in fair and predictable treatment to the oil and gas industry while assuring the oyster lessees actual compensation for damages to their oyster beds due to mineral activities. La.R.S. 56:700.10. Accordingly, we find no merit to the defendants' contention that the inclusion of this lease clause was mandated by application of the public trust doctrine. [8]