Due to the government shutdown, EPA representatives won’t be appearing at this year’s Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) in Chicago.

In one of the opening sessions, “The Future of Cities and Water: Insights from Great Water Cities”, WEF President Cordell Samuels recognized the agency’s absence, stating that he was “very sorry they cannot be with us today.”  WEFTEC 2013 was slated to be new EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy’s first appearance at the annual WEFTEC event in her new post.

On Monday, October 7, one of the most popular annual conference offerings, “Clean Water Policy Update”, a 3 and a half hour  technical session that brings together EPA’s Office of Water office directors to discuss their current national water program policies and initiatives, was cancelled. Attendees this year, hoping to have their critical questions concerning the proposed NPDES electronic reporting rule, the proposed water quality standards rule, stormwater regulation revisions and expected permits, green infrastructure, and other EPA final criteria and proposed rules, will not be able to meet with EPA officials and learn about what the agency is planning for water and wastewater regulatory developments.

WEFTEC has yet to announce how the conference will be affected for Tuesday, October 8 and Wednesday, October 9.