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Earth Matters, Inc. is a woman-owned DBE certified environmental consulting firm specializing in air quality policy, climate change, planning, and technical services for regions not attaining air quality health standards. Since its formation in 1995, Earth Matters has become known for innovation and professionalism informed by an unusual depth and breadth of knowledge and experience.

Clients include, or have included, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state, regional, and local air quality and transportation planning agencies, the National Academy of Sciences, private industry, and other federal agencies such as the National Forest Service. Earth Matters has also provided services to international agencies such as U.S. AID.

On a recent assignment, founder Kamala Barbara Joy worked with the National Wildlife Federation for the South Central Office for 15 months assisting with global warming and wildlife resiliency issues, encouraging environmental literacy and education, and water issues. Earth Matters also serves as a subcontractor on projects for the above clients managed by other firms. Specialty areas include:

Government Sectors

  • Tracking climate change issues and informing clients of potential strategies to address them
  • Emission inventories for greenhouse gases, ozone precursors and particulate matter
  • Interaction between energy production and electric vehicles
  • Mobile Source Emissions and Control Strategies (MOVEs, EMFAC, I-PLACE3S, INDEX, URBEMIS, and methodologies developed by B. Joy with EPA funding)
  • Transportation/Air Quality issues
  • Transportation Conformity (strategy, rule interpretation, technical analysis);
  • Land use, transportation and air quality connection;
  • Attainment planning and control strategy development;
  • CMAQ applications, analysis and implementation
  • General conformity;
  • Air quality and emission evaluations and mobile source modeling;
  • Innovative strategies to increase transit, telecommuting, ridesharing, vanpooling,
  • Biking/walking and other alternative modes, and other transportation control strategies); and
  • Cleaner-powered vehicles

Private Sector

  • Title V Permitting Assistance
  • Dispersion Modeling (ISC, AERMOD, CALPUFF, OCD, BLP, and CTDMPLUS)
  • PSD and non-attainment NSR permitting
  • MACT, LAER and BACT control strategy development
  • Environmental Impact Reports
  • Cap and Trade Programs

General Services

  • Proposal and grant applications
  • Public presentations
  • Expert witness testimony
  • Develop and provide lively presentations and courses for the public, private companies and elected officials
  • Project management
  • Coalition building
  • Technical writing

Earth Matters is also experienced with evaluation of climate change policies including cap and trade progams, carbon taxes, and fuel efficiency standards.

Earth Matters has four technical staff and one support person.

 

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Transportation Conformity Guidance for Quantitative Hot-spot Analyses in PM2.5 and PM10 Nonattainment and Maintenance Areas – Public Draft ( published in Federal Register May 26, 2010 )
EPA has released, for public review and comment, draft conformity guidance for modeling the local air quality impacts of certain transportation projects on the PM2.5 and PM10 national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). EPA is asking the public for comments on the draft guidance by July 19, 2010.

Complete document (PDF) (274 pp, 2.9M, EPA420-P-10-001, May 2010 ) This file contains both the main draft guidance document and all appendices.

Main document only (PDF) (139 pp, 1.5M)

Appendices only (PDF) (134 pp, 1.8M)

Fact Sheet | PDF Version (6 pp, 623K, EPA420-F-10-036, May 2010 )

Contact: Meg Patulski at 734-214-4842 or patulski.meg@epa.gov

Climate change bill to Senate Today

 

By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

May 13, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/science/earth/13climate.html

WASHINGTON — After nearly eight months of negotiations with lawmakers and interest groups, Senators John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, produced a 987-page bill that attempts to limit climate-altering emissions, reduce oil imports and create millions of new energy-related jobs.

The bill, by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, while spurring nuclear power and investing in so-called “clean coal” technology designed to trap carbon dioxide spewed by coal-burning power plants.

Climate change could mean second Dust Bowl for NM, USA Today reports
By Bryant Furlow 4/9/10

New Mexico’s Eastern Plains could see a second Dust Bowl caused by climate change, USA Today reported Friday. Oklahoma state climatologist Gary McManus is warning that changing precipitation patterns caused by climate change could be “catastrophic” for northeastern New Mexico, parts of Texas and Colorado, and much of Kansas and Oklahoma—the states most impacted during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar warns in the article that this century could see another era of mass relocation by rural climate refugees fleeing drought, similar to the migration of farmers and ranchers who fled Oklahoma parts of surrounding states during the Dust Bowl.

http://newmexicoindependent.com/51097/climate-change-could-mean-second-dust-bowl-for-nm-usa-today-reports

Council on Environmental Quality publishes Draft NEPA Guidance on Considerationof the Effects of Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Feb 18, 2010.

http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/Consideration_of_Effects_of_GHG_Draft_NEPA_Guidance_FINAL_02182010.pdf

Conformity News: March 10, 2010. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson signed the final "Transportation Conformity Rule PM2.5 and PM10 Amendments." The final rule and fact sheet is at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/conf-regs.htm .

There is also a new page on the EPA website with baseline years for the baseline year test:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/baseline.htm

EPA Formally Announces Release of MOVES Model

March 2, 2010.

The notice itself can be accessed at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-4312.pdf.



 

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

Earth Matters' vision is to help create and implement
programs that work. We believe a sense of fun, creativity, and pupose invites stakeholders to approach objectives in fresh ways that can also be more effective.

 Earth Matters' founder and president, Kamala. Barbara Joy has over 26 years of experience in this field and enjoys a national reputation for technical, policy, outreach and management services. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Environmental Economics in 1985 and joined the renowned firm Systems Applications International (SAI) in 1985. By 1990 she was a senior manager and scientist responsible for transportation/air quality programs. In 1995 she formed Earth Matters which has since gained a considerable reputation as a reliable and creative source of services in the environmental field.