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WASHINGTON - The D.C. Council hopes to tackle pollution of the Anacostia River and storm water runoff with new legislation.

The committee of public works held a hearing with input coming from environmentalists and the business community on the city's storm water fee. If approved, the legislation will change the way the city calculates the fee.

The storm water fee was created in 2000 to help the city pay for improvements to sewers and storm water management. Currently, it's calculated based on one's WASA bill or how much water is consumed. But the legislation calls for a new calculation based on the amount of impervious surface on the property. Those are hard surfaces like a roof or concrete parking lots, which don't absorb moisture and lead to storm water runoff. Both environmentalists and the business community seem to welcome the change, calling it more equitable.

Following recommendations from a storm water task force, Council member Jim Graham and his fellow council members are working to reduce storm water overflow into the Anacostia, Potomac and Rock Creek by targeting impervious surfaces. "The classic example of course is a concrete parking lot where water is not absorbed and just runs off,' said Graham.

With new legislation, the D.C. Department of the Environment says it hopes to base the city's storm water fee not on water usage, but on the amount of impervious surface on properties. City leaders call the change more equitable. "For example apartment buildings have relatively small amounts of impervious area, but consume large volumes of water," said .

George Hawkins says residential properties would see a drop in their fees from 22% to 13%. Commercial properties would also see a drop from 34% to 30%. "In contrast, the federal governments share would increase from 15 percent to 24 percent," said Hawkins.

Some environmentalists want the city to go farther and create strict restrictions on impervious surfaces for new development. "Frankly we've been hearing they'd have regulations and we haven't seen them," said Nancy Stoner, co-director of Water Program NRDC.

They also want more emphasis on environmental building instead of just sewers and pipes. A green roof, for example, reduces runoff. "We believe the solutions belong above ground to convey we're stewards of the environment," said Sara Loveland, executive director, D.C. Greenworks.

Meanwhile, property managers want the city to create an appeals process to drop fees even lower for businesses who reduce their runoff. "Property conditions can change as owners install storm water management changes at the property and must be taken into account each year," said Caroline Kruger, Boston Properties.

The committee members say they'll continue to develop the language for the legislation. The bill also calls for a discount program to help D.C. residents earn discounts on their water bills as they reduce the amount of impermeable surfaces on their properties. It also calls for a grant program to help them install rain barrels, green roofs and other low impact projects.

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