In 1977, the Energy Research and Development Administration's Health and Safety Laboratory (HASL) became a part of the U.S. Department of Energy as the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML). During the next two decades it performed extensive studies in radiation transport and dosimetry and established the Quality Assurance Program for environmental dosimeters and radioanalytical measurements. The lab also performed dose reconstructions for nuclear weapons tests, studied radon in homes, and established programs for the measurement and evaluation of environmental contamination.

The Lab moved to DOE's Office of Environmental Management in 1997 and changed focus to environmental monitoring, decommissioning, decontamination, and remediation efforts. EML served as a resource providing consultation on radiation survey planning, data quality objectives, background levels of radionuclides, radiation dose models, environmental transport, measurement techniques, and data assessment as well as continuing to perform its own world-wide environmental measurements.

EML was transfered in 2003 from DOE into the newly created U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate. In 2009, the Lab's name was changed to the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory to reflect its mission of the prevention and deterrence of terrorist attacks and protection against and response to threats and hazards to the Nation.