1. Section 401 of the Clean Water Act preserves
state sovereignty by giving States a "certification" role
in federal licensing for proposed project s that might
pollute waterways through " any discharge into the
navigable waters ." 33 U.S.C. §1341(a)(1). Before an
applicant receives a license , a State must certify that
the discharge will comply with water -quality laws . Id.
A State waives this power if it "fails or refuses to act
on a request for certification, within a reasonable period of time (which shall not exceed one year) after re-ceipt of such request." Id. But the statute does not
define a "request " for purposes of calculating waiver .
Here, t he Supreme Court of Ohio held that Ohio
waived its Section 401 power by failing to act within a
year of a company's initial submission for certification, even though th at submission was not "complete"
under existing law. See Ohio Rev. Code §6111.30 (A)–
(B). As to waiver, t his case presents this question:
To start the State s' waiver timeframe under 33
U.S.C. §1341(a)(1), must an applicant submit a
valid certification request that satisfie s applicable legal requirements?

2. This Court has he ld that the Natural Gas Act
sometimes impliedly preempts state laws . But the
Natural Gas Act includes a saving clause , which says,
"Except as specifically provided in this chapter, nothing in this chapter affe cts the rights of States under"
the Clean Water Act. 15 U.S.C. §717b(d)(3). With re-spect to preemption, this case presents this question:
If a State waives its certification power under
33 U.S.C. §1341(a)(1) , does it retain other
"rights … under" the Clean Water Act for pur-poses of 15 U.S.C. §717b(d)(3) ?

To start the States' waiver timeframe under 33 U.S.C. §1341(a)(1), must an applicant submit a valid certification request that satisfies applicable legal requirements?