Writ application denied.
I voted to grant and docket this matter in order to address the issue presented, i.e., whether the legislature by its 2019 amendments to La. R.S. 30:93(A) and 30:86(E) intended to limit the parties liable for restoration costs for an orphaned oilfield site when an emergency has been declared. I voted to grant and docket, not knowing the correct answer, but to evaluate the law as currently written, noting that this specific area of the law would benefit greatly from clarification by our colleagues in the legislature.
I respectfully dissent. There is nothing in the law that prevents a well from being both orphaned and an emergency. In this case the well was abandoned before the emergency was declared. The result here means that the Commissioner would be foolish to declare an emergency when a well has been orphaned, hardly the result intended. Some clean-up is needed, both on the ground and in the Legislature.
Weimer, C.J., would grant and docket and assigns reasons.
Hughes, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
Griffin, J., would grant and docket.