An audit by the Chicago Office of the Inspector General found that the city’s Department of Public Health doesn’t fully enforce a recycling ordinance related to construction and demolition debris.
The complete findings were released Wednesday and included recommendations from the city’s watchdog agency for the Department of Public Health. The goal of the audit was to determine whether or not the department oversees the recycling of debris from construction and demolition projects and if the city uses funds allocated for debris management in the proper manner.
City code puts the responsibility on the Department of Public Health to make sure that contractors working on city construction and demolition projects recycle at least 50% of debris generated, according to the audit. Contractors must meet that requirement within 30 days of project completion and could be fined for not doing so.
The audit found that the department doesn’t “ensure that contractors comply with C&D debris recycling requirements” and “cannot determine the extent of contractors’ compliance or identify contractors who do not follow the requirements.”
The department is also required by city code to use a construction and demolition debris management fund in order to regulate and enforce proper recycling, which the city has failed to meet, according to the audit. The city didn’t create the management fund, so it is unclear whether or not more than $1 million collected between Jan. 1, 2017 and July 1, 2021 has been used to follow recycling ordinance, according to the audit. Money collected during this time period was put into the city’s general operating fund instead.
Among the eight recommendations for the department to improve the management of debris recycling were putting in place procedures ensuring that contractors submit documentation of their compliance with city code for review and creating training opportunities for contractors to learn about city requirements.
In response to the audit, the Department of Public Health announced plans to work with the Department of Buildings and Department of Assets, Information and Services to identify and enforce projects that are subject to city recycling requirements, which the department had not done since late 2018, according to the audit.
