U.S. Chamber urges Ninth Circuit to hold that California waived its authority under section 401 of the Clean Water Act to grant or deny water quality certifications for proposed federally licensed activities. Section 401 provides that if a state fails or refuses to act on a certification request “within a reasonable period of time (which shall not exceed one year) after receipt of such request,” the certification requirements of section 401 “shall be waived.” In this case, the state failed to grant or deny certification within a year.