The 2025 Legislative Session has officially come to a close.

Much of our work this year centered on holding the line — preventing some harmful rollbacks while continuing to push for legislation that supports clean water and public lands, even if some of those “good” bills didn’t move forward.

During today’s team meeting, we reflected on what your support helped us do at the Capitol this year. Here are a few highlights from the session:

• Above Ground Storage Tank safeguards were at risk, but your engagement helped stop rollbacks at the final hour in the House.
• A bill allowing carbon to be transported by truck and pipeline passed, but thanks to advocacy efforts, it was amended to prohibit those activities within state parks.
• A proposal to expand motorized vehicle trails on public lands returned again this session. Thanks to your advocacy, it was removed from the agenda before it could move forward.
• Attempts to limit community air monitoring, which provides crucial local data on air quality, were stalled.
  A bill to consider adding river access points during bridge construction and repair gained traction but ultimately stalled. Still, it sparked an important conversation about expanding outdoor access, and we’re optimistic about revisiting it in future sessions.
• The bill that allows industry to change a waterbody’s use from drinking water to recreation passed, weakening protective standards. However, this change reaffirms our commitment to reducing toxic discharges in our waters, and we’ll be calling on you to help us oppose any future attempts.

A particularly meaningful moment this session came when WV Rivers’ Senior Scientist, Dr. Than Hitt, joined with members of the scientific community to speak out against the “Sound Science in Regulations Act.” This bill, while well-titled, was intended to censor science for the benefit of corporate polluters. WV Rivers led a coalition of researchers and public health experts to defeat this bad bill and protect science for public health and conservation.

While we didn’t see all the progress we hoped for, your voice and support made a real difference. Every email, phone call, meeting, and donation helped ensure that clean water and public health stayed front and center in the conversation.

With your partnership, we’ll keep building momentum — protecting what we love and making space for progress, one session at a time.

Thank YOU for being part of this coalition.

For clean water & healthy communities,
Maria

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Maria Russo
Policy Specialist
WV Rivers Coalition