Audit of Chicago Department of Public Health’s Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling Enforcement

Executive Summary

The Chicago Department of Public Health is responsible for ensuring that contractors who work on construction and demolition projects recycle at least 50% of C&D debris generated, as required by the Municipal Code of Chicago (MCC). Contractors must demonstrate compliance with the ordinance within 30 days of project completion and may be subject to fines if they do not meet the 50% requirement or if they fail to demonstrate compliance within the 30-day window. Furthermore, CDPH may coordinate with the Department of Buildings (DOB) to withhold permits or certificates of occupancy. In addition, the MCC requires that a construction/demolition debris management fund “be utilized for the regulation of construction or demolition debris.” Such utilization includes “enforcement against illegal dumping of construction and demolition debris and oversight of recycling of concrete debris.

The objectives of the audit were to determine, first, whether CDPH engages in oversight activities—such as reviewing contractor recycler affidavits or sending enforcement letters—to ensure compliance with the City’s C&D debris recycling requirements, and, second, whether the City uses the construction/demolition debris management fund in the manner required by the MCC.