Federal actions like the 1970 Clean Air Act and the 1972 Clean Water Act helped regulate water and air pollution, changing the landscape of American cities.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025, his administration and EPA administrator Lee Zeldin have sought to roll back environmental protections aimed at tackling widespread pollution.
In March 2025, the agency announced plans to reconsider the 2009 endangerment finding that allowed greenhouse gases, including methane and carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels, to be regulated under the Clean Air Act. In February 2026, the EPA said it had finalized the rescission of that finding.
The administration called the move the "single largest deregulatory action in US history" and said it would help Americans save on "hidden taxes" and create more jobs.
"We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the US, and more," Zeldin said in an EPA statement in March 2025, when the agency announced it would initiate 31 deregulatory actions in the agency.
The decision was met with opposition from lawmakers and environmental activists. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California promised that the state would seek legal action.
"If this reckless decision survives legal challenges, it will lead to more deadly wildfires, more extreme heat deaths, more climate-driven floods and droughts, and greater threats to communities nationwide," Newsom said in a statement.
In the early 1970s, the EPA launched the "The Documerica Project," which leveraged 100 freelance photographers to document what the US looked like. By 1974, they had taken 81,000 photos. The National Archives digitized nearly 16,000 documents and made them available online.
These 36 photos reflect how cities across the US used to look.
In the San Francisco Bay, raw sewage entered the bay in 83 places.
Belinda Rain/EPA
By the 1970s, the San Francisco Bay was badly polluted, with sewage and wastewater from industrial facilities dumping in the bay from over 83 points of entry, the San Francisco Baykeeper reported.
Pollutants in the sewage dumped in the Bay peaked in the late 1960s, according to the California State Water Resources Control Board.
The Environmental Protection Agency started regulating emissions, waste, and water pollutants after it was established in 1970.
In San Francisco Bay, the Leslie salt ponds gleam at sunset. The photographer behind this photo said the "water stinks."
In San Francisco, LESLIE SALT PONDS AT SUNSET. "WATER STINKS," WRITES THE PHOTOGRAPHER ABOUT THIS SCENE
Belinda Rain / EPA
In 2019, the EPA ruled the land, owned by Cargill Salt, was not bound by the Clean Water Act, Mercury News reported.
Today, battles remain over who can be held responsible for the water quality off the coast of San Francisco — a Supreme Court ruling in March 2025 could impact the EPA's power to enforce water quality regulations.
The court sided with the city of San Francisco in a 5-4 decision, arguing the agency didn't have the power to enforce broad regulations on the quality of a body of water. While the agency can instruct permit holders to follow certain requirements in a bid to avoid pollution, it shouldn't hold them responsible for the ultimate quality of the water, which is out of their control, the court said.
Industrial black smoke billows out of a stack in San Francisco.
INDUSTRY HAS TAKEN OVER THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA FOR ITS OWN PURPOSES
Belinda Rain / EPA
During the 1970s, the biggest problem for the city was ozone pollution, which mainly comes from cars, industrial plants, power plants, and refineries.
The Clean Air Act, passed in 1970, allowed the EPA to set regulations for industrial pollution and authorized the agency to create National Ambient Air Quality Standards to promote air quality regulation throughout the country.
Here is one of the factories that polluted San Francisco.
MASSIVE CONCENTRATION OF INDUSTRY IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS RESULTED IN SEVERE POLLUTION PROBLEMS
Belinda Rain / EPA
The photo was taken in 1972, according to the National Archives.
In Baltimore, trash and tires cover the shore at Middle Branch beside the harbor in 1973.
Trash and Old Tires Litter the Shore at the Middle Branch of Baltimore Harbor, 01/1973.
Jim Pickerell / EPA
The EPA regulates waste now, and sets criteria for landfills. While the open dumping of waste is banned, it still happens.
Baltimore City did have some simple techniques to keep the harbor clean.
A SCREEN PLACED ACROSS JONES FALLS TRAPS TRASH AND KEEPS IT OUT OF BALTIMORE HARBOR. ALTHOUGH NOT FOOLPROOF-A HEAVY RAIN CAN BREAK THE SCREEN-IT IS EFFECTIVE WHEN CLEANED REGULARLY
Jim Pickerell/EPA
Here, a screen has been placed across the water to trap trash. A heavy rain could break it, but it was effective when cleaned often.
In Birmingham in 1972, a boy throws a Frisbee against hazy skies.
TOSSING A FRISBEE ON A SMOKE-FILLED STREET IN NORTH BIRMINGHAM, MOST HEAVILY POLLUTED AREA OF THE CITY
LeRoy Woodson/EPA
Truckers in the 1960s called Birmingham "smoke city," Bham Now reported.
A house in North Birmingham is barely visible in industrial smog coming from the North Birmingham Pipe Plant.
Industrial Smog Blacks Out Homes Adjacent to North Birmingham Pipe Plant, this is the Most Heavily Polluted Area of the City
LeRoy Woodson/EPA
North Birmingham was the most polluted area of the city.
In Cleveland, in 1973, billowing smoke casts a gloom over the Clark Avenue bridge.
Clark Avenue and Clark Avenue Bridge. Looking East from West 13th Street, Are Obscured by Smoke from Heavy Industry, 07/1973.
Frank Aleksandrowicz / EPA
Because Cleveland was an industrial city, the pollution was severe.
Cleveland's inner city was also a dumping ground.
EMPTY LOT IN CLEVELAND INNER CITY, ON SUPERIOR AVENUE, BECOMES A DUMPING GROUND
Frank Aleksandrowicz/EPA
In this 1973 photo, an empty lot on Superior Avenue in Cleveland was filled with trash.
In Delaware, the city incinerator billows out smoke over the river.
CITY INCINERATOR ON THE DELAWARE RIVER
Dick Swanson/EPA
In 2016, a report released by New York University said 41 people living in Delaware still die because of air pollution every year, The News Journal reported.
In Denver, murky, light-brown sewage is discharged into the South Platte River.
THE DENVER METRO SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT DISCHARGES INTO THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER
Bruce McAllister/EPA
The sewage came from the Metro Sewage Treatment Plant, per the EPA.
Here's a billboard against Denver's smoky skies in the 1970s. The city was known for its brown haze of pollution.
A billboard in Denver.
Bill Gillette / EPA
In the late 1980s, the air pollution got so bad that the city developed a visibility standard — it asked whether downtown workers could see mountains that were only 35 miles away, The New York Times reported.
In Kansas City's harbor, on the Missouri River, a local EPA worker points out a dying fish.
LOCAL EPA WORKER ON A FIELD TRIP POINTS OUT A DYING FISH AT THE INNER CITY VIADUCT AREA JOINING KANSAS CITY, KS, AND KANSAS CITY, MO
Kenneth Paik / EPA
While the river has been much cleaner since the Clean Water Act was passed, trash and industrial contaminants still end up in it, The Kansas City Star reported. In 2023, NPR reported that volunteers with Missouri River Relief have picked up more than 2 million pounds of trash from the river since the organization began in 2001.
In Los Angeles, the outline of the sun is clearly visible because air pollution creates a buffer.
Los Angeles sun above a railroad near the Salton Sea.
Charles O'Rear/Documerica
In 1943, 30 years before this photo was taken, the smog was so bad that the city's residents thought there was a gas attack, according to the California Sun.
Los Angeles County monitored pollution on the roads, at least.
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DEPARTMENT OFFICERS CHECKING FOR VIOLATORS ON HIGHWAY
Gene Daniels / EPA
In this photo from 1972, the air-pollution control department checks for violators.
In New Orleans, fumes spread over the streets.
New Orleans KAISER ALUMINUM PLANT SMOKESTACK SPREADS FUMES ABOVE ST CLAUDE AVENUE IN THE CHALMETTE SECTION
John Messina / EPA
Fumes billow from Kaiser Aluminum Plant's smoke stack in 1973.
In an illegal dump in New Orleans, garbage turned to sludge when a lake overflowed into it.
New Orleans, LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN SPILLS OVER ONTO ILLEGAL DUMPING GROUND THE LAKE IS OVER FULL FROM HEAVY RAINS AND WATER DIVERTED FROM THE FLOODING MISSISSIPPI RIVER BY THE OPENING OF THE BONNET CARRE SPILLWAY
John Messina / EPA
In the 1970s, the EPA found 66 pollutants in the city's drinking water. And the city's water is known for its oily taste, per The Washington Post.
In New Jersey, a photo shows raw and partially digested sewage.
INDUSTRIAL CONTAMINATION OF THE ARTHUR KILL RIVER AT BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY IN THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN AREA. RIVERS IN THE REGION CARRY RAW AND PARTIALLY DIGESTED SEWAGE, AND CHEMICAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES INTO THE WATERS OF THE BIGHT. ACCUMULATION OF THESE WASTES INTO THE WATERS BORDERING THE BIGHT PRESENT ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL STRESSES TO ITS ENVIRONMENT
Alexander Hope / EPA
The sewage was photographed darkening the water in Bayonne, New Jersey, in 1974.
New York is one of the most photographed cities for "The Documerica Project."
Illegal Dumping Area off the New Jersey Turnpike, Facing Manhattan Across the Hudson River. Nearby, to the South, Is the Landfill Area of the Proposed Liberty State Park, 03/1973.
Gary Miller / EPA
Here, a pile of illegally dumped trash ruins the view of Manhattan and the Twin Towers in 1973.
A photographer snapped this image of an abandoned, waterlogged car in Jamaica Bay, New York.
An abandoned car sits in Jamaica Bay in New York City in 1973. Landfills and auto salvage yards fall under the EPA's regulations now, though improper disposal still occurs.
Arthur Tress/Documerica The
The abandoned Beetle was photographed in 1973.
Another car has sunk halfway into the beach at Breezy Point, south of Jamaica Bay.
All kinds of trash used to be dumped outside New York City, like this car at Breezy Point, south of Jamaica Bay. The EPA helped institute regulations for how the city disposed of trash to prevent dumping in the Atlantic.
Arthur Tress / Documerica
The EPA now helps regulate how the city disposes of trash to prevent dumping in the Atlantic.
Though it might not be clear, this is the George Washington Bridge going over the Hudson River, covered in thick smog.
The George Washington Bridge in Heavy Smog. View toward the New Jersey Side of the Hudson River.
Chester Higgins / EPA
In 1965, a study by New York City Council found breathing New York's air had the same effect as smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, The New York Times reported.
Seen here is the Statue of Liberty surrounded by oil. It was the result of one of 300 oil spills in the first six months of 1973.
An oil slick surrounding the Statue of Liberty
Chester Higgins / Documerica
Between April and June of that year, 487,000 gallons of oil were dispersed in the New York Harbor and its tributaries, The New York Times reported.
The EPA estimated about 6 million gallons of coal were dumped into the New York Bight by the Edison Power Plant in Manhattan in the early 1970s.
CONSOLIDATED EDISON POWER PLANT IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT ALL ITS PLANTS DUMP SOME SIX MILLION GALLONS PER YEAR OF RESIDUAL COAL INTO THE NEW YORK BIGHT. STRESS FACTORS GENERATED ON THE BIGHT INCLUDE AIR AND WATER POLLUTION DESTRUCTION OF WETLANDS WHICH ARE NURSERIES FOR MARINE LIFE COASTAL OVER-DEVELOPMENT, AND OCEAN DUMPING OF MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES
Alexander Hope / EPA
The New York Bight is a triangular area extending from Cape May, New Jersey, to the eastern tip of Long Island. The city allowed a ConEd plant to burn coal in the 1970s amid a fuel shortage, The New York Times reported. But coal has caused air and water pollution and destroyed wetlands, according to the National Archives.
Barges, filled with New York's waste, are pulled down the East River to a Staten Island landfill.
PART OF THE 26,000 TONS OF SOLID WASTE THAT NEW YORK CITY PRODUCES EACH DAY. TUGS TOW HEAVILY-LADEN BARGES DOWN THE EAST RIVER TO THE OVERFLOWING STATEN ISLAND LANDFILL
Gary Miller / EPA
In the 1970s, New York produced 26,000 tons of solid waste every day, according to the National Archives.
Rubble is loaded into barges before being dumped offshore, on a debris dump site, in the New York Bight.
CONSTRUCTION RUBBLE IS LOADED ON BARGES IN THE EAST RIVER IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK. IT WILL BE DUMPED AT A CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS DUMP SITE OFFSHORE IN THE NEW YORK BIGHT. SLUDGE IS DUMPED 12 MILES OFFSHORE, WASTE ACID 15 MILES AND CHEMICAL WASTES 106 MILES. DREDGE SPOILS AND DERELICT VESSELS ALSO ARE DISPOSED OF IN THE BIGHT
Alexander Hope / EPA
There were different distances for dumping different substances.
This is one of four New York City-owned vessels on its way to dump sludge 12 miles into the bight. In 1973, 5.8 million cubic yards of sludge was dumped, according to the National Archives.
ONE OF FOUR NEW YORK CITY OWNED VESSELS DUMPING SLUDGE INTO WATERS OF THE BIGHT. IN 1973 THERE WERE 5.8 MILLION CUBIC YARDS OF SEWAGE SLUDGE DUMPED IN THE BIGHT. THE VOLUME IS EXPECTED TO TRIPLE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. DREDGE SPOILS ARE DUMPED SIX MILES FROM SHORE SLUDGE 12 MILES, WASTE ACID 15 MILES AND CHEMICAL WASTES 106 MILES CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS AND DERELICT VESSELS ALSO ARE DISPOSED OFFSHORE
Alexander Hope / EPA
The sludge would settle on the bottom of the ocean, "like mud, killing plant life and creating what has been described as a 'dead sea,'" The New York Times reported.
Acid waste lightens the water here. It was also dumped in the New York Bight, 15 miles offshore, and made up 90% of the industrial waste dumped in the area.
CLOSEUP OF ACID WASTES DUMPED 15 MILES OFFSHORE IN THE NEW YORK BIGHT. THEY MAKE UP 90 PER CENT OF ALL INDUSTRIAL WASTES DUMPED INTO THE BIGHT. MORE THAN THREE MILLION CUBIC YARDS OF ACID WASTES WERE DUMPED IN THE BIGHT DURING 1974. DREDGE SPOILS ARE DUMPED SIX MILES FROM SHORE, SLUDGE 12 MILES AND CHEMICAL WASTES 106 MILES
Alexander Hope / EPA
In 1974, more than 3 million tons were dumped in the bight, according to the National Archives.
Some roads in Manhattan, like 108th Street and Lexington Avenue, were covered with piles of trash.
EMPTY LOT STREWN WITH TRASH AT 108TH STREET AND LEXINGTON AVENUE, MANHATTAN
Gary Miller / EPA
A photo shows trash strewn across New York City streets in 1973.
But it was worse in the Bronx. Here, the Bronx's Co-Op City housing development is beside a landfill that was still being used, even though it had exceeded its dumping capacity.
APARTMENTS OF "CO-OP CITY," A VAST HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN THE BRONX, NOT FAR FROM PELHAM. THESE BUILDINGS STAND ON THE EDGE OF A LANDFILL DUMP, WHERE GARBAGE CONTINUES TO PILE UP ALTHOUGH THE AREA HAS ALREADY EXCEEDED ITS DUMPING CAPACITY
Gary Miller / EPA
By 1992, regulations to prevent waste from being dumped on the city's shores and efforts to clean them up had begun, with The New York Times reporting the end of the era of "using the ocean as a municipal chamber pot."
In Philadelphia, the sun is setting, but because of the smog, it's hard to tell.
CENTER CITY, PHILADELPHIA AT SUNSET
Dick Swanson / EPA
In 2018, a study found that the city became more polluted between 2014 and 2016, after several years of declining pollution, Philadelphia magazine reported.
In Pittsburgh, thick smoke creates a haze over the city.
SMOKE FROM INDUSTRY CREATES A HAZE WHICH LINGERS OVER THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ON THE HORIZON. IN THE FOREGROUND ON BOTH SIDES OF THE MONONGAHELA RIVER, ARE PLANTS OWNED BY THE JONES AND LAUGHLIN STEEL CORPORATION. THE POLLUTION HAS CONTINUED SINCE THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN. CLEANUP EFFORTS HAVE BEEN SCHEDULED AT THE JONES AND LAUGHLIN PLANTS
A junkyard looms in front of the Monongahela River, which runs through Pittsburgh.
JUNKYARD ACROSS THE MONONGAHELA RIVER CONTRASTS WITH THE MODERN OFFICE BUILDINGS AND SEEMS TO BRING THE TWO LOCATIONS CLOSER THAN REALITY BECAUSE OF THE USE OF A TELEPHOTO LENS. THE URBAN RENEWAL RENAISSANCE PROGRAM WAS BEGUN IN THE CITY IN THE EARLY 1950'S
John Alexandrowicz / EPA
According to Mayor Tom Murphy in 2001, the biggest complaint he heard about the city was that it was too dirty, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Near Pittsburgh, oil-coated trees along the Ohio River show the damage caused by spills and industry.
SCENE SHOWING THE HIGH WATER MARK WHICH REVEALS EVIDENCE OF TREES BEING COATED BY OIL ALONG THE SHORE OF THE OHIO RIVER NEAR PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA. BOOMS HAVE BEEN PLACED NEAR VARIOUS OUTFALLS TO TRAP POLLUTION WITH OIL ACIDITY CONTENT AND LOW PH
John Alexandrowicz / EPA
NPR reported that the river is much cleaner today, 50 years after the passage of the Clean Water Act.
In Washington, DC, raw sewage flows out into the Potomac River. In 1970, a hot summer resulted in a "stomach-turning" smell coming from the Potomac, due to the mixing of sewage and algae.
The Goergetown Gap, Through Which Raw Sewage Flows into the Potomac. Watergate Complex in the Rear, 04/1973.
John Neubauer / EPA
The pollution was blamed on a "hundred years of under-estimates, bad decisions, and outright mistakes," a director of the Federal Water Quality Administration told The New York Times.
His description can be applied to a lot of the US before the EPA.
Editor's note: This story was originally published in August 2019 and was most recently updated in April 2026.
