Cite as: 511 U. S. 700 (1994)
Thomas, J., dissenting
make its own decisions about which to accept, if the state agencies had the power to impose the requirements themselves." Sayles Hydro Associates v. Maughan, 985 F. 2d 451, 456 (1993).
Given the connection between § 401 and federal hydroelectric licensing, it is remarkable that the Court does not at least attempt to fit its interpretation of § 401 into the larger statutory framework governing the licensing process. At the very least, the significant impact the Court's ruling is likely to have on that process should compel the Court to undertake a closer examination of § 401 to ensure that the result it reaches was mandated by Congress.
IV
Because the Court today fundamentally alters the federal-state balance Congress carefully crafted in the FPA, and because such a result is neither mandated nor supported by the text of § 401, I respectfully dissent.
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