Powers and duties of the office.
Municipal Code of Chicago § 2-31-040
in effect2-31-040 Powers and duties of the office.
(a) The Chief Sustainability Officer and the Department shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
(1) To develop a coordinated and comprehensive equity-focused environmental policy agenda for the City aimed at protecting residents and conserving the City's natural resources, to encourage and promote the resiliency, adaptation, and long-term sustainability of the City's streets, built environment, parkways, waterways, natural areas, and shoreline for the benefit of all residents;
(2) To provide strategic coordination and guidance for systematic reform of processes, practices, and functions for the City aimed at advancing sustainability, environmental justice, community resilience, and climate mitigation;
(3) To guide City departments in creating, monitoring, and reporting on climate and environmental policy and programs in order to achieve the goals of the City's Climate Action Plan and other regional, state, national, and international climate agreements;
(4) To develop a coordinated and comprehensive energy policy and initiatives for the City to improve energy efficiency and decarbonization across the City and encourage innovation in renewable energy and affordability and access in the generation, storage, distribution, conversion, and consumption of energy;
(5) To develop policies and plans for waste reduction, diversion, and improved recycling policies and programs throughout the City, and to advance policies and recommendations consistent with the Chicago waste strategy;
(6) To encourage and conduct studies, investigations and research relating to the physical, chemical, engineering, meteorological, and other aspects of environmental management, planning, and mitigation, independently or in conjunction with other federal, state, and local agencies and organizations, City departments and sister agencies, as the Chief Sustainability Officer may deem advisable and necessary;
(7) To develop plans and proposals for joint cooperative investigation and research with public and private agencies and organizations on methods for reducing or eliminating land, air, and water pollution, with the goal of reducing emissions, advancing climate and environmental justice, and improving quality of life for all residents;
(8) To educate and communicate to City departments, other governmental bodies, community and civic organizations, and the public as to the status and progress of the City of Chicago's sustainability and environmental and climate justice efforts, as well as opportunities for collaboration and innovation;
(9) To function as the City's central source for such research, literature, educational materials and other information regarding land, air and water pollution, energy efficiency and innovation, climate change, city-wide sustainability and environmental protection;
(10) To collaborate and partner with sister agencies and non-governmental bodies in developing policies, initiatives, and planning efforts aimed at integrating equity and racial justice goals into mitigating climate change and accelerating an equitable green economy;
(11) To enter into grant agreements, cooperation agreements and other agreements or contracts with governmental entities, private business, and civic and community groups to implement environmental enhancement, protection, and sustainability programs, and to enter into and execute all such other instruments and to perform any and all acts, including the allocation and expenditure of funds subject to appropriation therefor, as shall be necessary or advisable in connection with the implementation of such agreements, including any renewals thereto;
(12) To oversee the implementation of public utility franchise agreements;
(13) To operate, oversee, and maintain the City’s opt-out electricity aggregation program;
(14) To supervise the execution of and implement all laws, ordinances, and rules pertaining to environmental protection and control as provided in Chapter 11-4 of the Municipal Code of Chicago;
(15) To institute necessary proceedings to prosecute violations of Chapter 11-4, and all other provisions of this Code which the Chief Sustainability Officer is expressly authorized to enforce, and otherwise to compel the prevention and abatement of the issuance of smoke or gases, solids or liquids or other matter causing air or water pollution, and nuisances arising therefrom;
(16) To examine and approve the plans of fuel-burning, combustion or process equipment devices, or areas, furnaces, and smoke prevention, air pollution, water pollution devices installed, constructed, reconstructed, repaired or added to in any building, location or on any premises within the City as herein provided to assure that they are in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 11-4;
(17) To make inspections of newly installed, constructed, reconstructed, repaired or altered fuel-burning, combustion or process equipment, devices, or areas, furnaces, and smoke prevention, air pollution, water pollution control devices, storage tanks and waste handling facilities, and to make annual or periodic inspections to determine whether compliance is being had with the provisions of Chapter 11-4;
(18) To investigate complaints of violations of Chapter 11-4 and to make inspections and observations of environmental conditions;
(19) To issue rules necessary or proper for the implementation of environmental ordinances and to accomplish the purposes of Chapter 11-4 pursuant to Section 2-31-070, and to publish a code of recommended practices under which Chapter 11-4 is to be administered, providing with clarity and in detail the necessary information by which the public is to be guided and to establish standards of quality;
(20) To publish adopted rules or standards and the code of recommended practices in a convenient form;
(21) To prepare and maintain a record of all orders issued by the Department;
(22) To issue all permits, certificates, notices or other documents required under the provisions of Chapter 11-4;
(23) To issue an emergency or a non-emergency cessation order or an emergency or a non-emergency abatement order in accordance with the provisions of Section 11-4-025 of this Code;
(24) To enforce the provisions of Section 15-28-755 of this Code;
(25) To encourage and conduct studies, investigations and research, including joint cooperative investigation and research with public and private agencies and organizations, relating to the environmental protection authorities conferred on the Chief Sustainability Officer pursuant to this section, as the Chief Sustainability Officer may deem advisable and necessary;
(26) To advise, consult and cooperate with other agencies of the state and federal governments, and other governmental agencies to advance environmental protection in furtherance of the purposes of Chapter 11-4 of this Code;
(27) To enter into grant agreements, cooperation agreements and other agreements or contracts with governmental entities, private business and civic and community groups to implement the environmental protection powers and duties conferred on the Chief Sustainability Officer pursuant to this section, and to implement pharmaceutical and other waste disposal programs, as the Chief Sustainability Officer may deem advisable and necessary, and to enter into and execute all such other instruments and to perform any and all acts, including the allocation and expenditure of funds subject to appropriation therefor, as shall be necessary or advisable in connection with the implementation of such agreements, including any renewals thereto;
(28) Subject to the approval of the Corporation Counsel, to negotiate and execute on behalf of the City a lease, right of entry or other agreement authorizing the City to use or occupy, on a temporary basis, land owned or controlled by another person for purposes of conducting an inspection, investigation, remediation, or other activities authorized in this section;
(29) To participate or otherwise engage in the City’s emergency preparedness and emergency response activities;
(30) To conduct advisory evaluations of environmentally significant projects and activities, including a review for compliance with environmental requirements and the environmental policy implications of such projects and activities, and to provide such evaluations to the Mayor;
(31) Subject to approval of the Corporation Counsel, to negotiate and execute, on behalf of the City, leases, rights-of-entry agreements or other agreements authorizing the temporary use or occupation of City property by others for purposes of conducting environmental assessments, remediation or related activities authorized by this chapter. Notwithstanding any law or mayoral executive order to the contrary, a party that enters into a temporary use or occupancy agreement with the City pursuant to this subsection (a)(31) shall:
(A) not be required to provide to the City economic disclosure statements, as defined in Section 2-51-010, in connection with such agreement;
(B) be required to provide to the City the following information in a form prescribed by the Chief Sustainability Officer:
(I) a list of:
(i) the party’s family members or relatives who are currently employed by the City; and
(ii) elected City officials to whom the party, or any person hired by the party to perform work on the real property in connection with such agreement (for purposes of this section, any such person, a “contractor”), has provided income, compensation, or donations during the 12-month period preceding the date of the party’s application to enter into the agreement, and the amount of the income, compensation, or donations given to each City official;
(II) a statement certifying that:
(i) no City official or City employee has a financial interest, as defined in Section 2-156-010, in the party or any contractor; and
(ii) neither the party nor any contractor is delinquent in the payment of any fine, fee, tax, or other source of indebtedness owed to the City, nor is the party or any contractor delinquent in the payment of any tax administered by the Illinois Department of Revenue;
(C) return the property to the City in the same condition as prior to occupancy at the conclusion of the agreement; and
(D) be required to obtain proper permits for all activities on the property;
(32) To encourage and conduct studies, investigations and research, including joint cooperative investigations and research with public and private agencies and organizations, relating to brownfields redevelopment, as the Chief Sustainability Officer may deem necessary or advisable;
(33) To advise, consult and cooperate with other agencies of the state and federal governments and other governmental agencies regarding brownfields redevelopment;
(34) To enter into grant agreements, cooperation agreements and other agreements or contracts with governmental entities, private business and civic and community groups to implement contaminated sites remediation and waste disposal programs; and to enter into and execute all other instruments and perform any and all acts, including the allocation and expenditure of funds subject to appropriation therefor, as shall be necessary or advisable in connection with the implementation of such agreements, including any renewals thereto;
(35) To enter into intergovernmental agreements to implement the City’s environmental review obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4312 - 4347 and the National Historic Preservation Act, 54 U.S.C. §§ 300101, et seq.; and
(36) To do any and all other acts which may be necessary for the implementation of other powers conferred on the Chief Sustainability Officer under this Code.
(b) All City departments and, to the extent permitted by law, sister agencies shall work cooperatively with the Chief Sustainability Officer to advance the environmental, climate, energy, and sustainability goals of the City. The Mayor shall ensure sufficient funding for the Department of the Environment to faithfully and fully execute these requirements.
(Added Coun. J. 11-7-22, p. 54948, Art. I, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 11-15-23, p. 6542, Art. II, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 12-16-24, p. 22879, Art. III, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 12-20-25, p. 39283, Art. III, § 1)
Source: City of Chicago, Municipal Code of Chicago (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/chicago/latest/chicago_il/0-0-0-2699535Fetched: 10/24/2026