A photograph from 1972 shows how "industry has changed the face of the San Francisco Bay Area," according to the EPA.Belinda Rain/EPABefore President Nixon created the EPA in 1970, water and air pollution weren't a federal priority.Photos of cities including Baltimore, Denver, and New York show hazy skies and polluted waterways.The Trump administration has moved to roll back environmental regulations.Don't let the soft, sepia tones fool you — the United States used to be dangerously polluted.Before President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, the environment and its well-being were not a federal priority.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/EPABy 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 SCENEBelinda Rain / EPAIn 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 PURPOSESBelinda Rain / EPADuring 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 PROBLEMSBelinda Rain / EPAThe 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 Pickerel