Our history
Environmental Protection UK traces its roots back to the foundation of the Coal Smoke Abatement Society (CSAS) in 1898, making it one of the oldest environmental NGOs. CSAS was founded by London based artist Sir William Blake Richmond, who became frustrated by low light levels in the winter caused by coal smoke. In an 1898 letter to The Times calling for action, Sir William said "the darkness was comparable to a total eclipse of the sun".
Over the following decades the Society was instrumental in the introduction of the 1926 Public Health (Smoke Abatement Act) and the 1956 Clean Air Act. The latter started life as a Private Members Bill promoted by Sir Gerald Nabarro MP in the aftermath of the Great London Smog of 1952. This event saw the deaths of between 4,000 and 12,000 people as a direct result of air pollution.
As the menace of coal smoke receded, the Society changed its name to the National Society for Clean Air (NSCA), and in the 1970s began to campaign vigorously on air pollution from industry and, increasingly, transport.
One of the biggest achievements of the Society after the Clean Air Acts was the development of the concept of Local Air Quality Management and the incorporation of this in the Environment Act 1995. The Society assisted in the drafting of the legislation through its Air Quality Committee, a body set up in 1992 to draw together the air quality experts.
Since the Act received Royal Assent in 1995 the Society, through the Air Quality Committee, has been instrumental in producing supplementary guidance documents to assist local authorities in implementing Local Air Quality Management.
Meanwhile, NSCA has also made a significant contribution to the areas of Noise Pollution and Land Quality, with the establishment of the National Noise Committee and the Land Quality Committee in late 1990s.
The National Noise Committee has provided valuable input to neighbour noise and environmental noise issues and has continued to lobby Government on the development of a National Noise Strategy. As well as producing information and educational resources, annual surveys on attitudes to noise have been carried out and Noise Awareness Day has been running for over 10 years and has recently evolved into Noise Action Week.
The Land Quality Committee has provided a unique forum for discussion on issues surrounding the implementation of the Contaminated Land Regime (Part 2A), bringing together both regulators and industry. In recent years the Committee has also addressed related issues through sub groups, such as soil, waste and brownfield regeneration.
In 2007 NSCA undertook a strategic review to focus the organisation's aims and objectives and produce a 5 year strategic plan. Alongside this a rebranding exercise was carried out and members consulted on the possibility of a name change, reflecting the wider policy focus. The new strategy was launched on 18th October 2007 at the House of Lords and NSCA was renamed Environmental Protection UK.
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