Cite as: 511 U. S. 700 (1994)
Thomas, J., dissenting
corresponding criteria. In this case, for example, the applicable "use" is contained in the following regulation: "Characteristic uses shall include, but not be limited to, . . . [s]almonid migration, rearing, spawning, and harvesting." Wash. Admin. Code (WAC) 173-201-045(1)(b)(iii) (1986). The corresponding criteria, by contrast, include measurable factors such as quantities of fecal coliform organisms and dissolved gases in the water. 173-201-045(1)(c)(i) and (ii).3 Although the Act does not further address (at least not expressly) the link between "uses" and "criteria," the regulations promulgated under § 303 make clear that a "use" is an aspirational goal to be attained through compliance with corresponding "criteria." Those regulations suggest that "uses" are to be "achieved and protected," and that "water quality criteria" are to be adopted to "protect the designated use[s]." 40 CFR §§ 131.10(a), 131.11(a)(1) (1993).
The problematic consequences of decoupling "uses" and "criteria" become clear once the Court's interpretation of § 303 is read in the context of § 401. In the Court's view, a State may condition the § 401 certification "upon any limitations necessary to ensure compliance" with the "uses of the water body." Ante, at 713-714, 715 (emphasis added). Under the Court's interpretation, then, state environmental agencies may pursue, through § 401, their water goals in any way they choose; the conditions imposed on certifications need not relate to discharges, nor to water quality criteria, nor to any objective or quantifiable standard, so long as they tend to make the water more suitable for the uses the State has chosen. In short, once a State is allowed to impose conditions on § 401 certifications to protect "uses" in the abstract, § 401(d) is limitless.
To illustrate, while respondents in this case focused only on the "use" of the Dosewallips River as a fish habitat, this particular river has a number of other "[c]haracteristic uses,"
3 Respondents concede that petitioners' project "will likely not violate any of Washington's water quality criteria." Brief for Respondents 24.
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