Your MS4 permit, mapped and ready for DEP.
Macole helps Pennsylvania boroughs, townships, and stormwater authorities keep their MS4 program in order: GIS maps that match the ground, inventories that are current, and an annual report that's done before September 30. Fixed scope, fixed fee, and we work alongside your municipal engineer.
Built for municipalities without a stormwater department.
- Outfall, field-verified
- Outfall, not yet verified
- Stormwater control measure
- Storm sewer
- Impervious surface
- Planning area
- SAM.gov registered
- UEI ET2XUUK7CSM3
- CAGE 1ZYJ9
- Woman-owned small business
- Based in Pittsburgh, PA
What your MS4 permit asks of you
If your municipality owns storm drains in an urbanized area, it likely holds an NPDES MS4 permit from PA DEP, under either the PAG-13 general permit or an individual permit. Day to day, that comes down to four things.
Six minimum control measures
Public education, public involvement, illicit discharge detection and elimination, construction site runoff, post-construction stormwater management, and good housekeeping at municipal facilities. Each needs a written program and records showing it happened.
The work gets done. The paperwork that proves it doesn't.
A map of your storm sewer system
Outfalls, the waters they discharge to, and the areas that drain to each one, kept current as streets and development change.
Old CAD drawings and paper maps that no longer match what's in the ground.
Pollutant reduction or TMDL plans
Where local streams are impaired, a plan to reduce sediment and nutrient loads, with progress you can document over the permit term.
Baselines built on outdated planning areas or impervious estimates.
Annual MS4 Status ReportDue to DEP by September 30 each year
A yearly report covering July 1 through June 30: what you did under each control measure, and where your plans stand.
One person, one spreadsheet, and a deadline that lands in budget season.
What we do
We handle the mapping, inventory, and record-keeping that MS4 compliance depends on, and leave you with a system your staff can keep running.
Phase 0 MS4 diagnostic
Fixed feeWhere every engagement starts. A short review that tells you exactly where your program stands against your permit, and what it will take to close the gaps.
We check:
- Your planning area delineation
- Your inventory of stormwater control measures
- Your impervious cover baseline, against recent aerial imagery
- Your records and last annual report, against your permit conditions
You get a gap summary ranked by risk, a map package, and a one-page briefing you can take to council or your authority board.
GIS mapping and inventory
Outfalls, pipes, inlets, drainage areas, and control measures mapped from your records and field checks, with condition and inspection details attached to each feature.
You get: GIS layers and print-ready PDF maps that you own.
Pollutant reduction plan support
The planning-area and impervious-area work behind your PRP or TMDL plan, plus a running tally of the projects you've built toward your reduction target. Stamped engineering stays with your engineer or a licensed PE partner.
You get: a progress tracker you can hand to DEP.
Annual report and records
Simple logs for outfall screening, facility inspections, and public outreach, set up once and kept through the year, then assembled into your annual status report package.
You get: a report ready for review and signature before September 30.
Staff training
Short, practical sessions for public works and office staff on outfall screening, good housekeeping, and keeping records that hold up during a DEP inspection.
You get: field checklists your crew will actually use.
How an engagement runs
You approve one step at a time. Nothing is billed by the open-ended hour.
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Phase 0, fixed fee
Diagnose
A 30-minute call, then a review of your permit, records, and maps. You'll know what's missing and what it will take, in writing.
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Scoped from Phase 0
Build
We map, inventory, and fix the gaps in priority order, at a price set before work begins.
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Optional annual support
Keep it current
Year-round record-keeping, annual report preparation, and help when DEP has questions or schedules an inspection.
Where does your MS4 program stand?
Seven questions, about two minutes. Your answers stay in your browser unless you choose to email them to us.
Why municipalities work with Macole
- Built for small staffs
- We work with boroughs, townships, and authorities that don't have a stormwater department, just a manager, an office, and a public works crew.
- Fixed scope, fixed fee
- Every phase is quoted before it starts, so you can budget for it and take a clear number to council.
- Alongside your engineer
- We never go around your municipal engineer. We take on the mapping, records, and reporting work that eats their hours.
- GIS at the core
- Your program lives on a map you own, in standard formats, not locked inside a software subscription.
- Process discipline
- Our background is in lean process improvement, so the systems we leave behind are simple enough for your staff to keep running.
- Local
- Based in Pittsburgh and focused on Southwestern Pennsylvania, close enough to walk your outfalls with you.
Also run a water system? Same maps, second permit.
We use the same GIS approach to build lead service line inventories under EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), from historical records review through DEP submission, for small systems and authorities.
Common questions
We already have a municipal engineer. Why would we need you?
We work alongside your engineer, not in place of them. Many engineers welcome help with the mapping, inventory, and reporting work, which frees them for design and stamped engineering. We're glad to talk with your engineer before anything starts.
We're under an individual permit, not PAG-13. Can you help?
Yes. The core obligations are similar, and Phase 0 reviews your specific permit conditions, including any TMDL requirements for your watershed.
What does Phase 0 cost?
It's a fixed fee, quoted after a 30-minute call once we know your size and permit type. You'll have the number in writing before you commit to anything.
How do municipalities pay for this work?
Most fund MS4 work through a stormwater fee, an authority budget, or the general fund. Some program work may also fit state grant or loan programs for stormwater, and we'll point out options that fit your situation.
What do we own when you're done?
Everything. Maps, GIS layers, spreadsheets, and reports are delivered in standard formats you keep, with no subscription to maintain.
DEP keeps updating the PAG-13 permit. Will that change what we need to do?
Possibly. Requirements and deadlines can shift when the general permit is reissued. We track those changes and fold them into your plan so you're not reading the Pennsylvania Bulletin yourself.
Where do you work?
Across Pennsylvania, with a focus on the Southwest region around Pittsburgh.
Start with a 30-minute conversation.
Tell us your municipality and your permit number if you have it handy. We'll review what's already in DEP's public records before we talk, so the call is about your situation, not a sales pitch.
Mantra (Mann) Sutariya
Co-Managing Member, Macole LLC
- mantra@macole.solutions
- Phone
- (682) 217-9467
- Office
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- UEI
- ET2XUUK7CSM3
- CAGE
- 1ZYJ9
- NAICS
- 541611 (primary)