Perrin Quarles founded PQA in 1979 to provide research and analytical support for national policy goals involving public health, environmental protection, natural resource conservation, energy conservation, and similar areas of public interest and trust. By 1982 PQA's work focused primarily on air quality compliance and enforcement policies at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In that year, PQA partnered with emissions monitoring and electric utility air pollution experts in a four year study that demonstrated successfully the feasibility of using continuous emissions monitoring for air quality compliance purposes. In the following year PQA began development of an inspection targeting model focused on environmental priorities that was ultimately adopted by EPA and used to develop state inspection plans.

Since those early years, PQA has supported numerous EPA air quality regulatory initiatives, including major support for the promulgation of the Compliance Assurance Monitoring regulations under Title VII of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and support for the emissions trading-based reduction programs under Title IV of the 1990 Amendments. PQA has significant expertise in the development and implementation of environmental compliance programs at the federal and state level, and is currently recognized as an expert in the implementation of emissions trading programs, including program development, regulatory and program analysis, and information systems. Recently, PQA has also expanded its work into new environmental areas, including EPA climate change and transportation initiatives.

As the utilization and public delivery of environmental data have become key factors in all environmental solutions, PQA has also significantly increased its information technology and data analysis capability. Over the past ten years, PQA has developed sophisticated software solutions on a variety of platforms and scales, including web based enterprise solutions involving large databases, the reengineering of major agency information systems, and the development of software tools to assist agency and industry users in the application of complex Clean Air Act requirements. PQA is currently the lead designer and developer of a multi-year information systems reengineering project for EPA's Clean Air Markets Division, and for the United Nations PQA has designed the global communications standards and central information system supporting the Kyoto Protocol. PQA has also played a key role in the transfer of information technology for emissions trading programs to other countries and agencies through the development of a generic emissions trading program software application sponsored by EPA.

last updated on: August 5, 2005