724
Thomas, J., dissenting
Justice Thomas, with whom Justice Scalia joins, dissenting.
The Court today holds that a State, pursuant to § 401 of the Clean Water Act, may condition the certification necessary to obtain a federal license for a proposed hydroelectric project upon the maintenance of a minimum flow rate in the river to be utilized by the project. In my view, the Court makes three fundamental errors. First, it adopts an interpretation that fails adequately to harmonize the subsections of § 401. Second, it places no meaningful limitation on a State's authority under § 401 to impose conditions on certification. Third, it gives little or no consideration to the fact that its interpretation of § 401 will significantly disrupt the carefully crafted federal-state balance embodied in the Federal Power Act. Accordingly, I dissent.
I
A
Section 401(a)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, otherwise known as the Clean Water Act (CWA or Act), 33 U. S. C. § 1251 et seq., provides that "[a]ny applicant for a Federal license or permit to conduct any activity . . . , which may result in any discharge into the navigable waters, shall provide the licensing or permitting agency a certification from the State in which the discharge originates . . . that any such discharge will comply with . . . applicable provisions of [the CWA]." 33 U. S. C. § 1341(a)(1). The terms of § 401(a)(1) make clear that the purpose of the certification process is to ensure that discharges from a project will meet the requirements of the CWA. Indeed, a State's authority under § 401(a)(1) is limited to certifying that "any discharge" that "may result" from "any activity," such as petitioners' proposed hydroelectric project, will "comply" with the enumerated provisions of the CWA; if the discharge will fail to comply, the State may "den[y]" the certification. Ibid. In addition, under § 401(d), a State may place conditions on a
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