Cite as: 511 U. S. 700 (1994)
Thomas, J., dissenting
to infer that the conditions a State is permitted to impose on certification must relate to the very purpose the certification process is designed to serve. Thus, while § 401(d) permits a State to place conditions on a certification to ensure compliance of the "applicant," those conditions must still be related to discharges. In my view, this interpretation best harmonizes the subsections of § 401. Indeed, any broader interpretation of § 401(d) would permit that subsection to swallow § 401(a)(1).
The text of § 401(d) similarly suggests that the conditions it authorizes must be related to discharges. The Court attaches critical weight to the fact that § 401(d) speaks of the compliance of an "applicant," but that reference, in and of itself, says little about the nature of the conditions that may be imposed under § 401(d). Rather, because § 401(d) conditions can be imposed only to ensure compliance with specified provisions of law—that is, with "applicable effluent limitations and other limitations, under section 1311 or 1312 of this title, standard[s] of performance under section 1316 of this title, . . . prohibition[s], effluent standard[s], or pretreatment standard[s] under section 1317 of this title, [or] . . . any other appropriate requirement[s] of State law"—one should logically turn to those provisions for guidance in determining the nature, scope, and purpose of § 401(d) conditions. Each of the four identified CWA provisions describes discharge-related limitations. See § 1311 (making it unlawful to discharge any pollutant except in compliance with enumerated provisions of the Act); § 1312 (establishing effluent limitations on point source discharges); § 1316 (setting national standards of performance for the control of discharges); and § 1317 (setting pretreatment effluent standards and prohibiting the discharge of certain effluents except in compliance with standards).
The final term on the list—"appropriate requirement[s] of State law"—appears to be more general in scope. Because
727
Page: Index Previous 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007