Founded as the Coal Smoke Abatement Society (CSAS) in 1898 by the artist Sir William Blake Richmond, the Society was influential in the introduction of the 1926 Public Health (Smoke Abatement Act) and the 1956 Clean Air Act introduced in the wake of the Great London Smog of 1952.

As coal smoke became better controlled, the CSAS became the National Society for Clean Air (NSCA). In the 1970s they focussed on transport and industrial air pollution. In this period the NSCA helped to develop the concept of Local Air Quality Management, which was then incorporated into the UK's Environment Act of 1995.

The focus of the NSCA widened to include management of noise pollution, establishing the National Noise Committee in 1984. In th 1990s this was followed by the creation of the Land Quality Committee, which explored the challenges of implementing the Contaminated Land Regime (Part 2A) with stakeholders from government and industry. Related sub-groups were formed to address issues around brownfield regeneration, waste and soil management.

The organisation changed name again in 2007, becoming Environmental Protection UK. Financial problems saw the NGO become entirely volunteer-run, ceasing operating as a fully staffed and funded organisation in 2012.