Water & Land
United States
Watersheds & Water Quality: In 2025, U.S. water policy and watershed health were in the spotlight due to regulatory changes and persistent pollution challenges. A major development was the fallout from the Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision (May 2023), which sharply limited federal protections for wetlands and streams. In 2025, the EPA and Army Corps issued a revised “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule compliant with Sackett – effectively removing many isolated wetlands and ephemeral streams from Clean Water Act coverage. This regulatory rollback raised alarms among environmental groups, who noted that up to 50% of previously protected wetlands could lose federal protection, potentially increasing flood and pollution risks. Several states (California, New York, etc.) responded by strengthening their own wetland laws, but others followed the narrower federal standard. Thus, wetland conservation took a hit in 2025, with likely long-term impacts on water filtration and habitat. Meanwhile, nutrient pollution in waterways remained a vexing issue. The Mississippi River Basin and Great Lakes saw continued problems with agricultural runoff causing algal blooms. There was modest progress in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: as the 2025 deadline for Bay cleanup arrived, the Bay states acknowledged falling short of the pollution reduction targets (especially for nitrogen) 84 85 . In fact, the Chesapeake Bay Program reported the Bay’s health score slipped to a “C” in 2025 due to stubborn nutrient loads and climate-driven impacts like warmer waters 86 . Bay state leaders, including the EPA, agreed to extend the cleanup timeline to 2040 with a new restoration framework 87 88 . This revised agreement, approved in December 2025, pushes back the deadline but commits to additional actions like forest buffering and wetland restoration, acknowledging that the 2025 goals were not met 88 89 . Outside the Bay, the Colorado River saw a pivotal moment in 2025: after emergency measures stabilized reservoir levels in 2023–2024, the seven Colorado River states and the federal government reached a new interim agreement on water allocations through 2030. This deal includes significant conservation commitments (especially by California, Arizona, and Nevada) to prevent Lake Mead and Lake Powell from crashing, effectively extending elements of the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan. It’s a temporary fix as the West grapples with long-term aridification. In the Midwest, 2025 brought the first signs of progress in addressing nutrient runoff to the Gulf of Mexico “Dead Zone” – USDA expanded its Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative, channeling more funds to precision agriculture and cover cropping; however, nutrient levels remain high and the Hypoxic Zone in the Gulf was still large (around 4,000+ square miles in summer 2025). On an urban water front, lead pipe replacement accelerated nationwide. The IIJA provided $15 billion over five years for lead service line removal, and in 2025 cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Newark each removed thousands of lead pipes, improving drinking water safety. The EPA also moved toward a stricter Lead and Copper Rule, expected to be finalized in 2026. Additionally, the EPA in March 2025 finalized the first national limits on PFAS (“forever chemicals”) in drinking water, setting MCLs (maximum contaminant levels) in the single-digit parts per trillion for six PFAS chemicals. Water utilities across the country began planning treatment upgrades, and states pursued polluters (chemical companies and DOD sites) to fund cleanup. In summary, water quality in U.S. watersheds showed some positive momentum (lead, PFAS action, collaborative basin agreements), even as legacy pollution and new legal setbacks (wetlands) posed ongoing challenges.
Pollution & Conservation: The year saw a mix of environmental conservation gains and some rollbacks. On the pollution control side, EPA advanced regulations in a few key areas. In 2025 EPA finalized updated efluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) for power plants, requiring stricter treatment of coal ash and wastewater discharges – but with coal plant retirements, the impact is limited mostly to a handful of plants that opted for compliance upgrades. EPA also proposed national standards for methane emissions from existing oil and gas wells, which would mandate more frequent leak detection and repair; this was expected to become final in 2025, though enforcement may depend on administration priorities. However, enforcement of environmental laws saw a notable decline in 2025 under new EPA leadership focused on a more industry-friendly approach. EPA’s civil penalty totals and inspection counts were reportedly down from early-decade levels, drawing criticism from environmental watchdogs. Some high-profile pollution cases did proceed: for instance, the Department of Justice reached a major $1.1 billion settlement with a mining company to clean up contaminated sites in Oklahoma and Idaho, and it sued a Texas chemical plant for toxic air emissions. Conservation of land and biodiversity remained a priority for the Biden Administration through 2024 (with the “30×30” initiative to conserve 30% of U.S. lands by 2030 making incremental progress via new national monuments and wildlife refuges). But in 2025, the new administration reversed course on some protections. Early in 2025, President Trump (having returned to ofice) issued executive orders to review and potentially open more federal lands to drilling and mining, including areas in the Arctic and some western states’ BLM lands that had been off-limits. No major national monuments were rescinded in 2025, but there was talk of shrinking a few recently designated ones (such as the monument in Nevada protecting Avi Kwa Ame) to allow mineral exploration – proposals that prompted legal challenges and opposition from Indigenous tribes. Conversely, Congress did secure a bipartisan win for conservation: the 2025 Farm Bill (passed in December) increased funding for conservation easements on private farmland and ranches, reflecting farmers’ enthusiasm for preserving lands and improving soil health. Also, wildlife conservation saw a notable milestone with the removal of the gray wolf from endangered status in the Northern Rockies afirmed by courts, and a controversial delisting of the monarch butterfly was debated as its populations slightly rebounded due to habitat initiatives. In the oceans, the Biden administration in its final months (late 2024) had created a new marine sanctuary in the Pacific and proposed protections for parts of the Arctic Ocean; by 2025 the direction shifted toward emphasizing offshore oil over wind (e.g. an “energy dominance” offshore lease sale was held in the Gulf 67 and offshore wind leasing was paused). Overall, U.S. conservation in 2025 was a tale of two halves: robust protection efforts through 2024, then a slowdown or reversal on federal public land conservation in 2025, counterbalanced somewhat by non-federal and private conservation endeavors continuing apace.
Extraction Impacts & Remediation: Extractive industries (mining, oil & gas) continued to pose environmental challenges, and 2025 saw both new initiatives to mitigate legacy impacts and new controversies. A significant positive development was the concerted effort to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells. Using funds from the IIJA (which allocated $4.7 billion for orphan well cleanup), states plugged tens of thousands of abandoned wells by 2025. The Interior Department reported that over 10,000 orphan wells were capped in 2024 alone, reducing methane leakage and eliminating sources of groundwater contamination. In Appalachian states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, this well-plugging drive brought jobs to oilfield workers and earned bipartisan praise 90 31 . Likewise, coal country benefited from reclamation: as noted, the AML program ramped up, and projects to extinguish underground mine fires (like the long-burning fire in an old Pennsylvania mine) finally got funded. However, new extraction projects sparked debate. In early 2025, the Administration gave a green light to the controversial Willow Project on Alaska’s North Slope (initially approved under Biden), which is a large oil development in the NPR-A. Environmentalists condemned the move due to potential climate and wildlife impacts, but proponents cited energy security. Legal challenges to Willow and other leases (e.g. in the Powder River Basin for coal, in Minnesota for copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters) wound through courts in 2025. One headline issue: critical minerals mining. To support the clean energy supply chain, there’s a push for domestic lithium, cobalt, and rare earth mining. In 2025, a proposed lithium mine in Nevada (Thacker Pass) began construction after surviving court challenges, though local tribes continued protests over cultural site disturbances. Similarly, a lithium brine extraction project in Arkansas moved ahead, highlighting how even the green transition minerals carry local environmental trade-offs (water use, habitat disruption). Federal agencies started updating mining rules – the Bureau of Land Management drafted new hardrock mining regulations to require better environmental performance and royalties, the first overhaul in decades (though finalization is likely years off). Superfund and toxic site remediation saw both gains and strains. The 2021 reinstatement of Superfund chemical taxes provided EPA with increased funding, and the agency in 2025 announced it had cleared the backlog of “orphan” Superfund sites lacking funding 31 . Over 60 long-contaminated sites were actively being cleaned thanks to this boost. Notably, the Port Neal fertilizer plant site in Iowa and the EAST Chicago USS Lead site in Indiana were declared fully remediated in 2025, allowing redevelopment or safe reuse. Yet, the Superfund program’s future became uncertain under the new administration’s budget, which proposed a 30% cut to Superfund enforcement (arguing for state-led cleanups instead). This generated pushback from affected communities. Another emerging concern: chemical spills and train derailments. In February 2025, a train carrying chemicals derailed outside St. Louis, echoing the East Palestine 2023 incident. The EPA responded swiftly with emergency removal actions and new safety rules for transporting hazardous materials were advocated in Congress (though not passed in 2025). Additionally, PFAS contamination of soils and water at military bases spurred the Department of Defense in 2025 to pledge $2 billion for PFAS cleanup at hundreds of sites – a massive effort that will take years. In summary, the U.S. made meaningful progress on cleaning up legacy pollution (orphan wells, mines, Superfund sites) 22 31 , even as new extraction projects and ongoing industrial pollution required vigilance and often sparked local opposition. Balancing resource development with land and water protection remained a core tension in 2025.
Pennsylvania
Watersheds & Water Quality: Pennsylvania has abundant water resources – from the Great Lakes basin to the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers – but also faces serious water quality challenges. In 2025, the state grappled with its outsized role in the Chesapeake Bay cleanup. Pennsylvania’s farms and towns contribute an estimated 40% of the nitrogen pollution entering the Bay, and the state has consistently fallen short of mandated nutrient reductions. By the 2025 deadline, Pennsylvania had not met its Bay targets for nitrogen or sediment 85 89 . In fact, studies showed PA was only about 25–30% toward its nitrogen reduction goal. Acknowledging this, Pennsylvania joined the other Bay states in approving a revised Chesapeake Bay Agreement that extends the timeframe to 2040 87 88 . The state committed to ramping up efforts – such as planting more riparian buffers, expanding no-till and cover crop use on farms, and upgrading stormwater infrastructure in towns – over the next 15 years. However, this delay drew criticism from environmental groups, given that Pennsylvania has had persistent funding and implementation gaps for Bay cleanup. On the positive side, Governor Shapiro did boost state investment in watershed programs: the new Clean Streams Fund, created in 2022, continued to distribute grants in 2025 (around $20 million that year) for agricultural best management practices and acid mine drainage cleanup. Also, the $220 million in federal USDA funds awarded to Pennsylvania in 2024 for climate-smart agriculture bolstered nutrient reduction projects on many farms. Outside the Bay, Pennsylvania addressed other water issues. The Delaware River watershed (which supplies Philadelphia and half of New Jersey with drinking water) maintained relatively good health, and in 2025 the Delaware River Basin Commission kept in place a moratorium on shale gas drilling in the watershed to protect water quality. Small stream pollution from legacy coal mining remains significant: over 5,500 miles of Pennsylvania streams are impaired by abandoned mine drainage (AMD) turning waters orange and acidic 91 92 . The state made a headline-grabbing advance here in March 2025 with the opening of the Blacklick Creek AMD Treatment Facility in western PA. This new plant, funded by state, federal (AMLER), and IIJA dollars, will treat 7.2 million gallons per day of acidic mine water from three abandoned mines, restoring 25 miles of formerly dead stream in Indiana and Cambria Counties 93 94 . At the ribbon-cutting, oficials noted this will “scratch 25 miles off” the state’s list of impaired waterways 91 – a significant environmental win for the local community, ecology, and even recreation (the Blacklick is along a popular rail-trail) 95 . Pennsylvania operates 12 such AMD treatment plants and has another dozen in planning 96 , underscoring the scale of remediation still needed for coal-era pollution. Meanwhile, the state dealt with emerging contaminants in water. Pennsylvania was among the first states to set its own PFAS drinking water standards (MCL of 14 ppt for PFOA, 18 ppt for PFOS) in 2023 83 , and by 2025 water systems had begun routine PFAS monitoring. In towns like Warminster and Willow Grove (with PFAS from former military bases), authorities installed advanced filtration on municipal wells to meet the new limits. The state also pursued polluters: in 2025, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General filed suit against several PFAS manufacturers to recover cleanup costs, similar to actions taken by other states. Urban water issues saw progress too – for example, Pittsburgh completed its multi-year project to replace all lead service lines in its water system by late 2025, greatly reducing lead exposure risk. Philadelphia continued its Green City, Clean Waters program (a nationally recognized green infrastructure effort to reduce combined sewer overflows) and reported in 2025 that it had prevented billions of gallons of polluted runoff from entering the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers since the program’s start. However, intense rainstorms still caused occasional sewer overflow events, suggesting further investments or system expansions are needed as climate change brings heavier downpours.
Pollution & Land Conservation: Pennsylvania’s industrial legacy means pollution cleanup is an ongoing concern, but the state also has strong programs to encourage remediation and reuse of lands. The Land Recycling Program (Act 2), a voluntary brownfield cleanup initiative, continues to facilitate site cleanups by offering liability relief and clear standards. As of 2025, Pennsylvania has cleaned up over 1,000 contaminated sites through Act 2, turning many into new commercial or community uses. In one notable example in 2025, the Philadelphia Navy Yard (a former shipyard turned mixed-use campus) finished remediation of its last “mustard gas” contaminated parcel, paving the way for a new life sciences research facility. Pennsylvania’s environmental regulatory climate in 2025 was somewhat in flux. The Shapiro administration put an emphasis on eficient permitting (as discussed in E1 and E2), which has pros and cons: business groups applaud faster approvals, but environmental advocates worry it might weaken oversight. For instance, a major issue has been pollution from the gas industry – spills of drilling wastewater and methane leaks. In 2025, DEP fined two Marcellus Shale operators for separate incidents: one for contaminating a stream with fracking fluid and another for a methane leak that forced a neighborhood evacuation. These enforcement actions show Pennsylvania’s DEP continuing to police the industry, though some argue penalties are a cost of doing business for multi-billion-dollar companies. Conservation of land and open space remained a priority at state and local levels. In 2025, Pennsylvania celebrated the 30th anniversary of its Growing Greener program, which has funded hundreds of conservation projects. The state budget included stable funding for the Farmland Preservation Program, which by 2025 has preserved over 6,000 farms (close to 615,000 acres) – the most of any state – ensuring that agricultural lands remain undeveloped and serve as green buffers. Additionally, Governor Shapiro in 2025 authorized the creation of three new state parks, following through on a plan initiated by the previous administration. These parks, located on previously unprotected lands (including a former coal mine site converted to a recreation area), advance both outdoor recreation and conservation of ecologically valuable areas. One of them in Luzerne County features wetlands now protected for migratory birds. Wildlife and habitat efforts included the Pennsylvania Game Commission expanding habitat programs for game birds and pollinators on state game lands, and ongoing work to restore the eastern hellbender (PA’s state amphibian) in improved-quality streams.
Extraction Impacts & Remediation: As a state shaped by extraction – coal, steel, timber, shale gas – Pennsylvania in 2025 was heavily engaged in mitigating the environmental impacts of those industries. The Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) problem is most acute in Pennsylvania, which has the largest inventory of old coal mines in the nation 97 . Thankfully, the huge influx of federal AML funding (from IIJA) is making a difference. Pennsylvania received about $245 million in FY2025 AML funds 98 – roughly one-third of the national pot, reflecting the state’s needs. These funds enabled dozens of new reclamation projects: sealing dangerous mine shafts, stabilizing collapsing mine lands, and cleaning up acid mine drainage. Communities across coal country are seeing tangible benefits. A prime example is the Blacklick Creek AMD plant mentioned earlier – a $27 million project that will restore water quality and fish habitat to a watershed that’s been lifeless since the mid-20th century 94 99 . Such projects not only improve the environment but also have community impacts: local contractors are hired for construction and operation, and improved streams can boost outdoor tourism (fishing, boating). Pennsylvania’s AML program, run by DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, now operates and maintains 12 AMD treatment facilities and is developing 12 more 96 . By 2025, Pennsylvania has rehabilitated over 151,000 acres of abandoned mine lands to safer conditions 97 , yet many more acres remain – the IIJA funds aim to eliminate nearly all known AML hazards over 15 years 22 100 . Alongside AML, oil and gas legacy wells are also a focus. Pennsylvania, the birthplace of the oil industry, has possibly hundreds of thousands of orphan wells. Using federal grants, Pennsylvania plugged approximately 1,000 orphan wells in 2024–25 (a significant uptick from prior years), including some high-priority wells leaking methane in urban areas. DEP also launched a novel program encouraging companies to voluntarily report and plug “low-hanging” orphan wells in exchange for regulatory flexibility elsewhere – an experiment in accelerating cleanup.
A notable intersection of extraction and innovation in PA is the effort to extract rare earth elements (REEs) from coal waste and AMD. The state, partnering with DOE and Penn State, continued pilot projects in 2025 to recover valuable REEs from acid mine drainage sludge. One such pilot plant in western PA successfully produced small quantities of critical minerals like cobalt and nickel from mine water byproducts, while neutralizing the water. If scaled up, this could turn an environmental liability into an economic opportunity for coal regions.
However, new extraction continued too. Shale gas development persisted in 2025, with around 600 new wells drilled in PA that year. The DEP in 2025 updated its regulations for conventional (shallow) oil and gas wells to strengthen spill reporting and bonding requirements, responding to criticism that the conventional industry was poorly regulated. Still, many rural residents and environmentalists feel the state hasn’t adequately addressed fracking’s cumulative impacts – on water, air, and public health. Pressure on Gov. Shapiro increased after a series of reports in 2023 indicated links between fracking and health problems 79 . Advocates in 2025 called for measures like greater well setbacks from homes and schools, but those would require legislation, which faces stiff opposition in the Republican-led state Senate. In the interim, Shapiro has convened a working group to recommend administrative actions to enhance oversight of fracking operations (e.g. better air monitoring, truck trafic management, and disclosure of drilling chemicals), with recommendations expected in 2026.
On the remediation front beyond mines, Pennsylvania’s storied industrial sites see ongoing cleanup efforts. The federal Superfund program currently lists 90 sites in PA. Notably, in 2025, EPA removed the Breslube-Penn Superfund Site (an old oil recycling facility near Pittsburgh) from the National Priorities List after successful soil and groundwater cleanup, enabling plans for a new commercial development there. Pennsylvania’s Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (HSCA), a state superfund, received a funding boost in 2025 via a budget appropriation – crucial after years of underfunding. This allowed the state to tackle more orphan contaminated sites, like an abandoned electroplating facility in Lancaster County that was leaching solvents.
In summary, Pennsylvania in 2025 made significant strides in remedying historic environmental damage – especially from coal mining – leveraging an influx of federal support and state commitment 24
96 . The state’s water quality is slowly improving in many streams thanks to these efforts. Yet Pennsylvania also continues to wrestle with the ongoing impacts of active extraction industries, trying to find a sustainable balance between economic development and the stewardship of its water and land resources.
