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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 235 (Friday, December 6, 2013)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 73424-73434] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2013-28516] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 18 CFR Part 40 [Docket No. RM13-8-000; Order No. 788] Retirement of Requirements in Reliability Standards AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE. ACTION: Final rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Commission approves the retirement of 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards identified by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization. The requirements approved for retirement either: Provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability; or are redundant with other aspects of the Reliability Standards. In addition, the Commission withdraws 41 Commission directives that NERC develop modifications to Reliability Standards. This rule is part of the Commission's ongoing effort to review its requirements and reduce unnecessary burdens by eliminating requirements that are not necessary to the performance of the Commission's regulatory responsibilities. DATES: Effective Date: This rule will become effective January 21, 2014. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Ryan (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-6840 [[Page 73425]] Michael Gandolfo (Technical Information), Office of Electric Reliability, Division of Reliability Standards and Security, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-6817. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 145 FERC ] 61,147 Before Commissioners: Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman; Philip D. Moeller, John R. Norris, Cheryl A. LaFleur, and Tony Clark. Final Rule (Issued November 21, 2013) 1. Pursuant to section 215(d) of the Federal Power Act (FPA),\1\ the Commission approves the retirement of 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards identified by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO). The retirement of these provisions meet the benchmarks set forth in the Commission's March 15, 2012 order that requirements proposed for retirement either: (1) Provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability or (2) are redundant with other aspects of the Reliability Standards.\2\ Consistent with the Commission's proposal in the March 2012 Order, we conclude that the requirements approved for retirement can ``be removed from the Reliability Standards with little effect on reliability and an increase in efficiency of the ERO compliance program.'' \3\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ 16 U.S.C. 824o(d) (2006). \2\ See North American Electric Reliability Corp., 138 FERC ] 61,193, at P 81 (March 2012 Order), order on reh'g and clarification, 139 FERC ] 61,168 (2012). \3\ Id. P 81. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. In addition, in this Final Rule, we withdraw 41 directives that NERC develop modifications to Reliability Standards.\4\ In Order No. 693 and subsequent final rules, the Commission has identified various issues and directed NERC to develop modifications to the Reliability Standards or take other action to address those issues.\5\ While NERC has addressed many of these directives, over 150 directives remain outstanding. The withdrawal of these directives will enhance the efficiency of the Reliability Standards development process, with little or no impact on Bulk-Power System reliability. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \4\ The 41 withdrawn directives are listed in Attachment A to this Final Rule. \5\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 693, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,242, order on reh'g, Order No. 693-A, 120 FERC ] 61,053 (2007). See also Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Calculation of Available Transfer Capability, Capacity Benefit Margins, Transmission Reliability Margins, Total Transfer Capability, and Existing Transmission Commitments and Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 729, 129 FERC ] 61,155 (2009), order on clarification, Order No. 729-A, 131 FERC ] 61,109 (2010), order on reh'g and reconsideration, Order No. 729-B, 132 FERC ] 61,027 (2010). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Pursuant to Executive Order 13579, the Commission issued a plan to identify regulations that warrant repeal or modification, or strengthening, complementing, or modernizing where necessary or appropriate.\6\ In the Plan, the Commission also stated that it voluntarily and routinely, albeit informally, reviews its regulations to ensure that they achieve their intended purpose and do not impose undue burdens on regulated entities or unnecessary costs on those entities or their customers. The action in this Final Rule is a part of the Commission's ongoing effort to review its requirements and reduce unnecessary burdens by eliminating requirements that are not necessary to the performance of the Commission's regulatory responsibilities. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \6\ Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules, Docket No. AD12-6-000 (Nov. 8, 2011). Executive Order 13579 requests that independent agencies issue public plans for periodic retrospective analysis of their existing ``significant regulations.'' Retrospective analysis should identify ``significant regulations'' that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them in order to achieve the agency's regulatory objective. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Background A. Section 215 of the FPA 4. Section 215 of the FPA requires the Commission-certified ERO to develop mandatory and enforceable Reliability Standards, subject to Commission review and approval. Once approved, the Reliability Standards may be enforced in the United States by the ERO subject to Commission oversight or by the Commission independently.\7\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \7\ See 16 U.S.C. 824o(e)(3). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pursuant to the requirements of FPA section 215, the Commission established a process to select and certify an ERO \8\ and, subsequently, certified NERC as the ERO.\9\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \8\ Rules Concerning Certification of the Electric Reliability Organization; and Procedures for the Establishment, Approval, and Enforcement of Electric Reliability Standards, Order No. 672, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,204, order on reh'g, Order No. 672-A, FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,212 (2006). \9\ North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC ] 61,062, order on reh'g and compliance, 117 FERC ] 61,126 (2006), aff'd sub nom. Alcoa Inc. v. FERC, 564 F.3d 1342 (D.C. Cir. 2009). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. March 2012 Order 5. In the March 2012 Order, the Commission accepted, with conditions, NERC's ``Find, Fix, Track and Report'' (FFT) initiative. The FFT process, inter alia, provides NERC and the Regional Entities the flexibility to address lower-risk possible violations through an FFT informational filing as opposed to issuing and filing a Notice of Penalty. In addition, the Commission raised the prospect of revising or removing requirements of Reliability Standards that ``provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability or may be redundant.'' \10\ Specifically, the Commission stated: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \10\ March 2012 Order, 138 FERC ] 61,193 at P 81. . . . NERC's FFT initiative is predicated on the view that many violations of requirements currently included in Reliability Standards pose lesser risk to the Bulk-Power System. If so, some current requirements likely provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability or may be redundant. The Commission is interested in obtaining views on whether such requirements could be removed from the Reliability Standards with little effect on reliability and an increase in efficiency of the ERO compliance program. If NERC believes that specific Reliability Standards or specific requirements within certain Standards should be revised or removed, we invite NERC to make specific proposals to the Commission identifying the Standards or requirements and setting forth in detail the technical basis for its belief. In addition, or in the alternative, we invite NERC, the Regional Entities and other interested entities to propose appropriate mechanisms to identify and remove from the Commission-approved Reliability Standards unnecessary or redundant requirements.\11\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \11\ Id. In response, NERC initiated a review, referred to as the ``P 81 project,'' to identify requirements that could be removed from Reliability Standards without impacting the reliability of the Bulk- Power System. C. NERC Petition 6. In a February 28, 2013 petition, NERC requested Commission approval of the retirement of 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards. According to NERC, the 34 requirements proposed for retirement ``are redundant or otherwise unnecessary'' and that ``violations of these requirements . . . pose a lesser risk to the reliability of the Bulk-Power System.'' \12\ NERC stated that the proposed retirement of the 34 requirements ``will allow industry stakeholders to focus their resources appropriately on reliability risks and will increase the efficiency of the ERO compliance program.'' \13\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \12\ Petition at 2. \13\ Id. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [[Page 73426]] 7. NERC explained that the ``P 81 Team'' developed three criteria for its review: (1) Criterion A: An overarching criteria designed to determine that there is no reliability gap created by the proposed retirement; (2) Criterion B: Consists of seven separate identifying criteria designed to recognize requirements appropriate for retirement (administrative; data collection/data retention; documentation; reporting; periodic updates; commercial or business practice; and redundant); and (3) Criterion C: Consists of seven separate questions designed to assist the P 81 Team in making an informed decision regarding whether requirements are appropriate to propose for retirement.\14\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \14\ Id. at 4. See also id. n. 8 (setting forth the seven questions of Criterion C). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. NERC explained that the project team focused on the identification of ``lower-level facilitating requirements that are either redundant with other requirements or where evidence retention is burdensome and the requirement is unnecessary'' because the reliability goal is achieved through other standards or mechanisms.\15\ According to NERC, the proposed retirement of documentation requirements will not create a gap in reliability because ``NERC and the Regional Entities can enforce reporting obligations pursuant to section 400 of NERC's Rules of Procedure and Appendix 4C to ensure that necessary data continues to be submitted for compliance and enforcement purposes.'' \16\ NERC asserts that, although the P 81 project proposes to retire requirements associated with data retention or documentation, ``the simple fact that a requirement includes a data retention or documentation element does not signify that it should be considered for retirement or is otherwise inappropriately designated as a requirement.'' \17\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \15\ Id. at 7. \16\ Id. at 8 (citing North American Electric Reliability Corp., 141 FERC ] 61,241, at P 82 (2012) (approving proposed revisions to NERC's Rules of Procedure)). \17\ Id. at 9 (emphasis in original). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Based on this approach, NERC identified the following 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards for potential retirement:
BAL-005-0.2b, Requirement R2--Automatic Generation Control CIP-003-3, -4, Requirement R1.2--Cyber Security--Security Management Controls \18\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \18\ NERC explains that although only eight requirements in the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) body of Reliability Standards are proposed for retirement, NERC proposes the retirement of those eight requirements in both CIP versions 3 and 4. Therefore, the total number of CIP requirements proposed for retirement is sixteen. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CIP-003-3, -4, Requirements R3, R3.1, R3.2, and R3.3--Cyber Security--Security Management Controls CIP-003-3, -4, Requirement R4.2--Cyber Security--Security Management Controls CIP-005-3a, -4a, Requirement R2.6--Cyber Security--Electronic Security Perimeter(s) CIP-007-3, -4, Requirement R7.3--Cyber Security--Systems Security Management EOP-005-2, Requirement R3.1--System Restoration From Blackstart Services FAC-002-1, Requirement R2--Coordination of Plans for New Facilities FAC-008-3, Requirements R4 and R5--Facility Ratings FAC-010-2.1, Requirement R5--System Operating Limits Methodology for the Planning Horizon FAC-011-2.1, Requirement R5--System Operating Limits Methodology for the Operations Horizon FAC-013-2, Requirement R3--Assessment of Transfer Capability for the Near-term Transmission Planning Horizon INT-007-1, Requirement R1.2--Interchange Confirmation IRO-016-1, Requirement R2--Coordination of Real-Time Activities Between Reliability Coordinators NUC-001-2, Requirements R9.1, R9.1.1, R9.1.2, R9.1.3, and R1.9.4--Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination PRC-010-0, Requirement R2--Assessment of the Design and Effectiveness of UVLS Programs PRC-022-1, Requirement R2--Under-Voltage Load Shedding Program Performance VAR-001-2, Requirement R5--Voltage and Reactive Control 10. NERC also requested that the Commission approve the implementation plan, provided as Exhibit C to NERC's petition, which provided that the identified requirements will be retired immediately upon Commission approval. 11. NERC stated that it will apply the ``concepts'' from the P 81 project to improve the drafting of Reliability Standards going forward. Specifically, NERC explained that Reliability Standards development projects ``will involve stronger examination for duplication of requirements across the NERC body of Reliability Standards and the technical basis and necessity for each and every requirement will continue to be evaluated.'' \19\ According to NERC, requirements that were proposed and ultimately not included in the immediate filing will be mapped for consideration in future standards projects. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \19\ Petition at 9. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 12. On June 20, 2013, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to approve the retirement of the 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards, consistent with NERC's petition.\20\ In addition, the Commission proposed to withdraw 41 outstanding Commission directives that NERC develop modifications to Reliability Standards. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \20\ Electric Reliability Organization Proposal To Retire Requirements in Reliability Standards, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 78 FR 38,851 (June 28, 2013), 143 FERC ] 61,251 (2013) (NOPR), errata, 78 FR 41,339 (July 10, 2013). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13. Comments on the NOPR were due by August 27, 2013. Seven entities filed comments, identified in Attachment B to the Final Rule. II. Discussion A. Retirement of Requirements NOPR Proposal 14. In the NOPR, the Commission proposed to approve the retirement of the 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards identified by NERC. In the NOPR, for each of the 34 requirements, the Commission provided NERC's rationale supporting retirement, and the Commission's explanation for proposing to approve the retirement.\21\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \21\ See NOPR, 143 FERC ] 61,251 at PP 17-83. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments 15. Commenters unanimously support approval of the NOPR proposal. Trade Associations, CEA and ITC concur that the retirement of the 34 requirements will have little to no effect on reliability. NRECA, ISO/ RTO Council, CEA and ITC support continuance of the ``P 81'' process as a high priority going forward and the identification of additional candidate requirements for retirement or streamlining. 16. ISO/RTO Council comments that, while the criteria used by NERC to identify candidate requirements for retirement are appropriate, additional criteria would ensure that streamlining of the Reliability Standards will continue. [[Page 73427]] Commission Determination 17. Pursuant to section 215 of the FPA, we approve the retirement of the 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards identified by NERC as just, reasonable, not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the public interest. Likewise, we approve the implementation plan and effective date set forth in NERC's petition. 18. In the March 2012 Order, the Commission explained that ``some current requirements likely provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability or may be redundant. The Commission is interested in obtaining views on whether such requirements could be removed from the Reliability Standards with little effect on reliability and an increase in efficiency of the ERO compliance program.'' \22\ In general, we conclude that the requirements identified by NERC for retirement satisfy the expectations set forth in the March 2012 Order; namely, the requirements proposed for retirement either: (1) Provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability or (2) are redundant with other aspects of the Reliability Standards.\23\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \22\ March 2012 Order, 138 FERC ] 61,193 at P 81. \23\ Further, we adopt the rationale for the retirement of each requirement as set forth in the NOPR, 143 FERC ] 61,251 at PP 17-83. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19. We agree with NERC that the elimination of certain requirements that pertain to information collection or documentation will not result in a reliability gap. No commenter disputes NERC's rationale. Section 400 and Appendix 4C (Uniform Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program) of the NERC Rules of Procedure provide NERC and the Regional Entities the authority to enforce reporting obligations necessary to support reliability.\24\ This authority, used in the appropriate manner, justifies retiring certain documentation-related requirements that provide limited, if any, support for reliability. The retirement of such requirements should enhance the efficiency of the ERO compliance program, as well as the efficiency of individual registered entity compliance programs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \24\ See North American Electric Reliability Corp., 141 FERC ] 61,241 at P 82. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20. We agree with commenters that NERC should continue the process of identifying additional Reliability Standards and requirements as candidates for retirement or streamlining. We support NERC's continuing efforts in this regard. Efficiencies can be gained from further consolidation or retirement of some requirements or components of requirements that are justified based on technical analysis of either existing requirements, new proposed requirements or modifications. Such analyses would take into account the interrelationship between standards and among categories of standards, in order to determine that when retirements or consolidations are made the reliability benefits of the currently effective requirements would be preserved. 21. With regard to ISO/RTO Council's comment, we will not direct NERC to develop additional criteria for identifying candidate requirements for retirement. ISO/RTO Council does not identify any specific concern or defect regarding the criteria applied by NERC.\25\ ISO/RTO Council may raise its proposal directly with NERC if it so chooses. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \25\ Moreover, while NERC provided the criteria in the February 2013 petition, NERC also made clear that the criteria were provided only for informational purposes. See NERC Petition at 4. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Outstanding Directives NOPR Proposal 22. In the NOPR, the Commission proposed to withdraw 41 outstanding Commission directives that NERC develop modifications to Reliability Standards. Attachment A of the NOPR identified the 41 Commission directives, the source (i.e., Final Rule) of the directive, and a justification for the proposed withdrawal.\26\ The Commission explained that it applied the following three criteria in identifying outstanding directives for withdrawal: (1) The reliability concern underlying the outstanding directive has been addressed in some manner, rendering the directive stale; (2) the outstanding directive provides general guidance for standards development rather than a specific directive; and (3) the outstanding directive is redundant with another directive.\27\ The Commission stated that each of the 41 outstanding directives identified in Attachment A of the NOPR satisfies one or more of the criteria. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \26\ The same table is provided as Attachment A to the Final Rule. Each directive identified in Attachment A includes a ``NERC Reference Number.'' Commission staff and NERC staff have developed a common approach to identifying and tracking outstanding Commission directives. The NERC Reference Numbers reflect this joint tracking process. \27\ NOPR, 143 FERC ] 61,251 at P 86. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments 23. NERC and all other commenters support the withdrawal of the 41 outstanding Commission directives. 24. Trade Associations recommend that the Commission consider alternative criteria for the withdrawal of outstanding directives to more closely align the criteria with those developed by NERC for retirement of Reliability Standard requirements. According to Trade Associations, ``simple logic suggests that the basis for retirement of requirements and withdrawal of Commission reliability directives should be consistent, if not uniform.'' \28\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \28\ Trade Associations Comments at 7. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Commission Determination 25. We find that it is appropriate to withdraw the 41 directives requiring that NERC develop modifications to Reliability Standards. As explained in the NOPR, the withdrawal of the identified directives should result in more efficient use of NERC's and the Commission's resources and reduce unnecessary burdens, without impacting the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System.\29\ All commenters agree with the withdrawal of the 41 directives and the resulting efficiencies. Accordingly, we withdraw the 41 directives requiring that NERC develop modifications to Reliability Standards, identified in Attachment A of the Final Rule. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \29\ See NOPR, 143 FERC ] 61,251 at PP 85-87. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26. We are not persuaded by Trade Associations' comments that there is a need to more closely align the criteria applied by the Commission in determining whether to withdraw an outstanding reliability directive with those criteria developed by NERC for retirement of Reliability Standard requirements. Unlike the NERC review of Reliability Standard requirements, without precluding possible future Commission action, we have no plans for ongoing review of outstanding Commission reliability directives. We have reviewed the catalogue of outstanding reliability directives and have taken appropriate action in this proceeding. Further, while Trade Associations assert that such convergence of criteria is ``logical,'' we do not believe that the retirement of Reliability Standards requirements and withdrawal of a Commission directive is an apples-to-apples comparison that necessitates the suggested ``alignment.'' III. Information Collection Statement 27. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require that OMB approve certain reporting and recordkeeping (collections of information) imposed by an agency.\30\ Upon approval of a collection(s) of information, OMB will assign an OMB control number and expiration date. Respondents subject to the filing [[Page 73428]] requirements of this rule will not be penalized for failing to respond to these collection(s) of information unless the collections of information display a valid OMB control number. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \30\ 5 CFR 1320.11. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28. The Commission is submitting these revisions to the reporting and recordkeeping requirements to OMB for its review and approval under section 3507(d) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.\31\ The Commission solicited comments on the need for and the purpose of the information contained in NERC's February 2013 petition and the corresponding burdens to implement NERC's proposed retirement of 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards. The Commission received comments generally supporting the efficiency gains and reductions in burden resulting from the retirement of specific requirements, which we address in the Final Rule. However, the Commission did not receive comments on the reporting estimates. The Final Rule approves the retirement of the 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards and, in addition, the withdrawal of 41 Commission directives that NERC develop modifications to Reliability Standards. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \31\ 44 U.S.C. 3507(d). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29. Public Reporting Burden: The estimate below for the number of respondents is based on the NERC Compliance Registry as of April 30, 2013.\32\ According to the registry, there are 132 balancing authorities (BA), 544 distribution providers (DP), 898 generator owners (GO), 859 generator operators (GOP), 56 interchange authorities (IA), 515 load serving entities (LSE), 80 planning authorities/planning coordinators (PA or PC), 677 purchasing selling entities (PSE), 21 reliability coordinators (RC), 346 transmission owners (TO), 185 transmission operators (TOP), 185 transmission planners (TP), and 93 transmission service providers (TSP). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \32\ The estimates for the retired CIP requirements are based on February 28, 2013 registry data in order to provide consistency with burden estimates provided in the Commission's recent CIP version 5 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in Docket No. RM13-5-000. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30. The Commission estimates that the burden will be reduced for each requirement as detailed in the chart below, for a total estimated annual reduction in burden cost of $518,220. The Commission based the burden reduction estimates on staff experience, knowledge, and expertise. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Estimated average Estimated Estimated Standard, requirement number, Type of Number of reduction in total annual total annual and FERC Collection Number respondents respondents burden hours reduction in reduction in \33\ per respondent burden (in cost per year hours) [A] [B] [A x B] [A x B x $60/ hour \34\] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EOP-005-2, R3.1 (FERC-725A)... TOP............. 185 1 185 $11,100 FAC-008-3, R4 (FERC-725A)..... TO, GO.......... 1,151 1 1,151 69,060 FAC-008-3, R5 (FERC-725A)..... TO, GO.......... 1,151 1 1,151 69,060 FAC-010-2.1, R5 (FERC-725D)... PA.............. 80 20 1,600 96,000 FAC-011-2, R5 (FERC-725D)..... RC.............. 21 20 420 25,200 FAC-013-2, R3 (FERC-725A)..... PC.............. 80 8 640 38,400 INT-007-1, R1.2 (FERC-725A)... IA.............. 56 20 1,120 67,200 IRO-016-1, R2 (FERC-725A)..... RC.............. 21 20 420 25,200 CIP-003-3, -4, R1.2 (FERC- RC, BA, IA, TSP, 325 1 325 19,500 725B). TO, TOP, GO, GOP,LSE. CIP-003-3, -4, R3, R3.1, R3.2, RC, BA, IA, TSP, 325 1 325 19,500 R3.3 (FERC-725B). TO, TOP, GO, GOP,LSE. CIP-005-3, -4, R2.6 (FERC- RC, BA, IA, TSP, 325 4 1300 78,000 725B). TO, TOP, GO, GOP,LSE. --------------------------------------------------------------- Total..................... ................ .............. .............. 8,637 518,220 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31. The above chart does not include BAL-005-0.2b, Requirement R2; CIP-003-3, -4, Requirement R4.2; CIP-007-3, -4, Requirement R7.3; FAC- 002-1, Requirement R2; PRC-010-0, Requirement R2; PRC-022-1, Requirement R2; and VAR-001-2, Requirement R5 because those requirements were found redundant with other requirements.\35\ Since the action required within them is required elsewhere, there is no change in the overall burden in retiring these requirements. Likewise, NUC-001-2, Requirement R9.1; NUC-001-2, Requirement R9.1.1; NUC-001-2, Requirement R9.1.2; NUC-001-2, Requirement R9.1.3; and NUC-001-2, Requirement R9.1.4 are not included because these requirements require that the applicable entities include ``boiler plate'' language into their agreements that is normally included in all legal contracts.\36\ Since this action will be taken regardless if it is required by a Reliability Standard, there is no reduction in burden. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \33\ This number was calculated by adding all the applicable entities while removing double counting caused by entities registered under multiple functions. \34\ The estimated hourly loaded cost (salary plus benefits) for an engineer is assumed to be $60/hour, based on salaries as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (http://bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm). Loaded costs are BLS rates divided by 0.703 and rounded to the nearest dollar (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm). \35\ The reporting requirements in these standards are part of the FERC-725A information collection. \36\ The reporting requirements in this standard are part of the FERC-725F information collection. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Titles: FERC-725A, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk Power System; FERC-725B, Mandatory Reliability Standards for Critical Infrastructure Protection; FERC-725D, Facilities, Design, Connections, and Maintenance Reliability Standards; and FERC-725F, Mandatory Reliability Standards for Nuclear Plant Interface Coordination. Action: Revisions to Collections of Information. OMB Control Nos: 1902-0244, 1902-0248, 1902-0247, and 1902-0249. Respondents: Business or other for-profit, and not-for-profit institutions. Frequency of Responses: On occasion. [[Page 73429]] Necessity of the Information: This proceeding approves the retirement of the 34 requirements within 19 Reliability Standards identified by NERC. The retirements either: (1) Provide little protection for Bulk-Power System reliability or (2) are redundant with other aspects of the Reliability Standards. In addition, we withdraw the 41 Commission directives listed in Attachment A in the interest of enhancing the efficiency of the ERO standard development and compliance programs, as well as the efficiency of individual registered entity compliance programs. Internal review: The Commission has reviewed NERC's proposal and determined that the action is necessary to implement section 215 of the FPA. The Commission has assured itself, by means of its internal review, that there is specific, objective support for the burden reduction estimates associated with the retired information requirements. 32. Interested persons may obtain information on the reporting requirements by contacting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Executive Director, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426 [Attention: Ellen Brown, email: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone: (202) 502-8663, fax: (202) 273-0873]. 33. Comments concerning the information collections and the associated burden estimates should be sent to the Commission in this docket and to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs [Attention: Desk Officer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission]. For security reasons, comments should be sent by email to OMB at: firstname.lastname@example.com. Please indicate the OMB Control Numbers and Docket No. RM13-8-000 in your submittal. IV. Environmental Analysis 34. The Commission is required to prepare an Environmental Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement for any action that may have a significant adverse effect on the human environment.\37\ The Commission has categorically excluded certain actions from this requirement as not having a significant effect on the human environment. Included in the exclusion are rules that are clarifying, corrective, or procedural or that do not substantially change the effect of the regulations being amended.\38\ The actions proposed here fall within this categorical exclusion in the Commission's regulations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \37\ Regulations Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, Order No. 486 52 FR 47897 (Dec. 17, 1987), FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles 1986-1990 ] 30,783 (1987). \38\ 18 CFR 380.4(a)(2)(ii) (2013). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Regulatory Flexibility Act 35. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) \39\ generally requires a description and analysis of final rules that will have significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The RFA mandates consideration of regulatory alternatives that accomplish the stated objectives of a proposed rule and that minimize any significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The Small Business Administration's Office of Size Standards develops the numerical definition of a small business.\40\ The Small Business Administration has established a size standard for electric utilities, stating that a firm is small if, including its affiliates, it is primarily engaged in the transmission, generation and/or distribution of electric energy for sale and its total electric output for the preceding twelve months did not exceed four million megawatt hours.\41\ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \39\ 5 U.S.C. 601-612. \40\ 13 CFR 121.101. \41\ 13 CFR 121.201, Sector 22, Utilities & n.1. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36. The Commission estimates the total reduction in burden for all small entities to be $32,460. The Commission estimates that small planning authorities/planning coordinators will see a reduction of $1,680 per entity per year, greater than for other types of affected small entities.\42\ The Commission does not consider a reduction of $1,680 per year to be a significant economic impact. The Commission believes that, in addition to the estimated economic impact, the proposed retirement of the 34 requirements of mandatory Reliability Standards will provide small entities with relief from having to track compliance with these provisions and preparing to show compliance in response to a potential compliance audit by a Regional Entity or other regulator. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \42\ The burden reduction for planning authorities/planning coordinators is based on the retirement of FAC-010-2.1, Requirement R5 and FAC-013-2, Requirement R3. Based on the NERC Compliance Registry and Energy Information Administration Form EIA-861 data, the Commission estimates that 5 out of the 80 planning authorities/ planning coordinators meet the definition of a small entity. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37. Based on the above, the Commission certifies that the changes to the Reliability Standards will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Accordingly, no regulatory flexibility analysis is required. VI. Document Availability 38. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the Internet through FERC's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC's Public Reference Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street NE., Room 2A, Washington DC 20426. 39. From FERC's Home Page on the Internet, this information is available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, and/or downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type the docket number excluding the last three digits of this document in the docket number field. 40. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the FERC's Web site during normal business hours from FERC Online Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or email at firstname.lastname@example.com, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502- 8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. Email the Public Reference Room at email@example.com. VII. Effective Date and Congressional Notification 41. These regulations are effective January 21, 2014. The Commission has determined that, with the concurrence of the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, this rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined in section 351 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. By the Commission. Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., Deputy Secretary. Note: Attachment A will not appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. Attachment A Withdrawn Commission Directives [[Page 73430]] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No. Standard Order No. Para Directive Justification ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group A--The reliability concern underlying the outstanding directive has been addressed in some manner, rendering the directive stale ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1........... BAL-006....................... 693 P 428 ``Add measures NERC replaced concerning the levels of non- accumulation of compliance with large inadvertent violation interchange severity levels balances and (VSLs). NERC has levels of non- designated VSLs compliance.'' for BAL-006. (NERC Reference No. 10036). 2........... EOP-001....................... 693 P 565 ``The Commission The VSLs listed in agrees with ISO- EOP-001-2.1b and NE that the the Reliability Reliability Standard Audit Standard should Worksheet for EOP- be clarified to 001 require indicate that the evidence of this actual emergency consideration. plan elements, and not the ``for consideration'' elements of Attachment 1, should be the basis for compliance. However, all of the elements should be considered when the emergency plan is put together.'' (NERC Reference No. 10065). 3........... INT-004....................... 693 P 843 ``Consider adding NERC replaced levels of non- levels of non- compliance to the compliance with standard.'' (NERC VSLs. VSLs for Reference No. INT-004 have been 10134). developed and approved by the Commission. 4........... INT-005....................... 693 P 848 ``Consider adding NERC replaced levels of non- levels of non- compliance to the compliance with standard.'' (NERC VSLs. VSLs for Reference No. INT-005 have been 10135). developed and approved by the Commission. 5........... MOD-010 through MOD-025....... 693 P 1147 ``Direct the ERO The concern to use its underlying the authority directive has pursuant to Sec. been addressed 39.2(d) of our through section regulations to 1600 (Requests require users, for Data or owners and Information) of operators to NERC's Rules of provide to the Procedure. The Regional Entity Commission the information approved Section related to data 1600 of NERC's gathering, data Rules on February maintenance, 21, 2008. reliability assessments and other process- type functions.'' (NERC Reference No. 10266). 6........... MOD-010....................... 693 P 1152 ``Address critical This directive is energy no longer infrastructure necessary in confidentiality light of section issues as part of 1500 the standard (Confidential development Information) of process.'' (NERC NERC's Rules of Reference No. Procedure 10268). addressing treatment of confidential information. 7........... MOD-010....................... 693 P 1163 ``Direct the ERO The concern to develop a Work underlying the Plan that will directive has facilitate been addressed ongoing through NERC's collection of the Reliability steady-state Standards modeling and Development Plan: simulation data 2013-2015. This specified in MOD- plan was provided 011-0.'' (NERC to the Commission Reference No. in an 10270). informational filing on December 31, 2012. It contains an action plan to merge, upgrade, and expand existing requirements in the modeling data (MOD-010 through MOD-015) and demand data (MOD- 016 through MOD- 021) Reliability Standards. 8........... PRC-017....................... 693 P 1546 ``Require Requirement R2 of documentation PRC-017 already identified in requires affected Requirement R2 be entities to routinely provide provided to NERC documentation of or the regional the special entity that protection system includes a program and its requirement that implementation to documentation the appropriate identified in Regional Requirement R2 Reliability shall be Organization and routinely NERC within 30 provided to the calendar days of ERO.'' (NERC a request. If Reference No. either the 10363). Regional Entity or NERC determine that they need and will use the information on a regular schedule, they have the authority to establish a schedule under the current requirement. 9........... Glossary...................... 693 P 1895 ``Modification to The concern the glossary that underlying the enhances the directive has definition of been addressed ``generator through the NERC operator'' to registration reflect concerns process. See of the commenters Order No. 693 at [``to include P 145. aspects unique to ISOs, RTOs and pooled resource organizations'']. '' (NERC Reference No. 10005). [[Page 73431]] 10.......... Glossary...................... 693 P 1895 ``Modification to The concern the glossary that underlying the enhances the directive has definition of been addressed ``transmission through the NERC operator'' to registration reflect concerns process. See of the commenters Order No. 693 at [``to include P 145. aspects unique to ISOs, RTOs and pooled resource organizations'']. '' (NERC Reference No. 10006). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group B--The outstanding directive provides general guidance for standards development rather than a specific directive ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.......... BAL-005....................... 693 P 406 ``The Commission This paragraph is understands that not a directive it may be to change or technically modify a possible for DSM standard. to meet equivalent requirements as conventional generators and expects the Reliability Standards development process to provide the qualifications they must meet to participate.'' (NERC Reference No. 10033). 12.......... BAL-006....................... 693 P 438 ``Examine the WECC This paragraph is time error not a directive correction to change or procedure as a modify a possible guide . standard. . . the Commission asks the ERO, when filing the new Reliability Standard, to explain how the new Reliability Standard satisfies the Commission's concerns.'' (NERC Reference No. 10037). 13.......... COM-001....................... 693 P 507 ``Although we This paragraph is direct that the not a directive regional to change or reliability modify a organization standard. should not be the compliance monitor for NERCNet, we leave it to the ERO to determine whether it is the appropriate compliance monitor or if compliance should be monitored by the Regional Entities for NERCNet User Organizations.'' (NERC Reference No. 10051). 14.......... MOD-001....................... 729 P 20 ``We encourage the This paragraph is ERO to consider not a directive Midwest ISO's and to change or Entegra's modify a comments when standard. developing other modifications to the MOD Reliability Standards pursuant to the EROs Reliability Standards development procedure.'' [See also P 198-199] (NERC Reference No. 10216). 15.......... MOD -001, -004, -008, -028, - 729 P 160 ``In developing This paragraph is 029, -030. the modifications not a directive to the MOD to change or Reliability modify a Standards standard. directed in this Final Rule, the ERO should consider generator nameplate ratings and transmission line ratings including the comments raised by Entegra and ISO/RTO Council.'' [Also see P 154] (NERC Reference No. 10207). 16.......... MOD-001....................... 729 P 179 ``The Commission This paragraph is directs the ERO not a directive to consider to change or Entegra's request modify a regarding more standard. frequent updates for constrained facilities through its Reliability Standards development process.'' (see Order No. 729 at P 177 for Entegra's comments). (NERC Reference No. 10211). 17.......... MOD-028....................... 729 P 231 ``The Commission This paragraph directs the ERO clarifies the to develop a Commission's modification sub- understanding of requirement R2.2 the phrase pursuant to its ``adjacent and Reliability beyond Standards Reliability development Coordination process to area.'' Since the clarify the Commission's phrase `adjacent understanding of and beyond the language is Reliability clearly Coordination expressed, and areas.''' (NERC the matter has Reference No. little impact on 10219). reliability, there is no reason to go forward with the directive. [[Page 73432]] 18.......... MOD-028....................... 729 P 234 ``The Commission This paragraph is agrees that a not a directive graduated time to change or frame for modify a reposting could standard. be reasonable in some situations. Accordingly, the ERO should consider this suggestion when making future modifications to the Reliability Standards.'' (NERC Reference No. 10220). 19.......... MOD-029....................... 729 P 246 ``The ERO should This paragraph is consider Puget not a directive Sound's concerns to change or on this issue modify a when making standard. future modifications to the Reliability Standards.'' [See also P 245] (NERC Reference No. 10222). 20.......... MOD-030....................... 729 P 269 ``The Commission This paragraph is also directs the not a directive ERO to make to change or explicit such modify a [effective date] standard. detail in any future version of this or any other Reliability Standard.'' (NERC Reference No. 10223). 21.......... MOD-024....................... 693 P 1310 ``Similarly, we This paragraph is respond to not a directive Constellation to change or that any modify a modification of standard. the Levels of Non- Compliance in this Reliability Standard should be reviewed in the ERO Reliability Standards development process.'' (NERC Reference No. 10318). 22.......... PER-002....................... 693 P 1375 ``Training This paragraph is programs for not a directive operations to change or planning and modify a operations standard. support staff must be tailored to the needs of the function, the tasks performed and personnel involved.'' (NERC Reference No. 10329). 23.......... VAR-001....................... 693 P 1863 ``The Commission This paragraph is expects that the not a directive appropriate power to change or factor range modify a developed for the standard. interface between the bulk electric system and the load-serving entity from VAR- 001-1 would be used as an input to the transmission and operations planning Reliability Standards.'' (NERC Reference No. 10441). 24.......... VAR-001....................... 693 P 1869 ``We recognize This paragraph is that our proposed not a directive modification does to change or not identify what modify a definitive standard. requirements the Reliability Standard should use for established limits and sufficient reactive resources.'' (NERC Reference No. 10434). 25.......... TPL and FAC series............ 705 P 49 ``Direct that any This paragraph revised TPL provides guidance Reliability on an ongoing Standards must implementation reflect issue and is not consistency in a directive to the lists of change or modify contingencies.'' a standard. (NERC Reference No. 10601). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Group C--The outstanding directive is redundant with another directive ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26.......... MOD-012....................... 693 P 1177 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to use its redundant with authority the directive in pursuant to Sec. paragraph 1147, 39.2(d) of our which has already regulations to been addressed require users, and is reflected owners, and in section A operators to above. provide to the Regional Entities the information related to data gathering, data maintenance, reliability assessments and other process type functions.'' (NERC Reference No. 10275). 27.......... MOD-012....................... 693 P 1177 ``Develop a Work This directive is Plan and submit a redundant with compliance filing the directive in that will paragraph 1163, facilitate which has already ongoing been addressed collection of the and is reflected dynamics system in section A modeling and above. simulation data.'' (NERC Reference No. 10279). 28.......... MOD-012....................... 693 P 1181 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to address redundant with confidentiality the directive in issues and modify paragraph 1152, the standard as which has already necessary through been addressed its Reliability and is reflected Standards in section A development above. process.'' (NERC Reference No. 10277). [[Page 73433]] 29.......... MOD-013....................... 693 P 1200 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to develop a Work redundant with Plan that will the directive in facilitate paragraph 1163, ongoing which has already collection of the been addressed dynamics system and is reflected modeling and in section A simulation data above. specified in MOD- 013-1, and submit a compliance filing containing this Work Plan to the Commission.'' (NERC Reference No. 10283). 30.......... MOD-014....................... 693 P 1212 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to use its redundant with authority the directive in pursuant to Sec. paragraph 1147, 39.2(d) of our which has already regulations to been addressed require users, and is reflected owners and in section A operators to above. provide the validated models to regional reliability organizations.'' (NERC Reference No. 10288). 31.......... MOD-014....................... 693 P 1212 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to develop a Work redundant with Plan that will the directive in facilitate paragraph 1163, ongoing which has already validation of been addressed steady-state and is reflected models and submit in section A a compliance above. filing containing the Work Plan with the Commission.'' (NERC Reference No. 10289). 32.......... MOD-015....................... 693 P 1221 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to use its redundant with authority the directive in pursuant to Sec. paragraph 1147, 39.2(d) of our which has already regulations to been addressed require users, and is reflected owners and in section A operators to above. provide to the Regional Entity the validated dynamics system models while MOD- 015-0 is being modified.'' (NERC Reference No. 10291). 33.......... MOD-015....................... 693 P 1221 ``Require the ERO This directive is to develop a Work redundant with Plan that will the directive in enable continual paragraph 1163, validation of which has already dynamics system been addressed models and submit and is reflected a compliance in section A filing with the above. Commission.'' (NERC Reference No. 10292). 34.......... MOD-017....................... 693 P 1247 ``Provide a Work This directive is Plan and redundant with compliance filing the directive in regarding the paragraph 1163, collection of which has already information been addressed specified under and is reflected standards that in section A are deferred, in above. this instance, data on the accuracy, error and bias of the forecast.'' (NERC Reference No.10299). 35.......... MOD-018....................... 693 P 1264 ``Require the ERO This directive is to provide a Work redundant with Plan and the directive in compliance filing paragraph 1163, regarding which has already collection of been addressed information and is reflected specified under in section A standards that above. are deferred, and believe there should be no difficulties complying with this Reliability Standard.'' (NERC Reference No. 10303). 36.......... MOD-019....................... 693 P 1275 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to use its redundant with authority the directive in pursuant to Sec. paragraph 1147, 39.2(d) of our which has already regulations to been addressed require users, and is reflected owners and in section A operators to above. provide to the Regional Entity information related to forecasts of interruptible demands and direct control load management.'' (NERC Reference No. 10305). 37.......... MOD-021....................... 693 1297 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to provide a Work redundant with Plan and the directive in compliance filing paragraph 1163, regarding which has already collection of been addressed information and is reflected specified under in section A related standards above. that are deferred, and believe there should be no difficulty complying with this Reliability Standard.'' (NERC Reference No. 10309). 38.......... MOD-021....................... 693 P 1297 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to use its redundant with authority the directive in pursuant to Sec. paragraph 1147, 39.2(d) of our which has already regulations to been addressed require users, and is reflected owners and in section A operators to above. provide to the Regional Entity the information required by this Reliability Standard.'' (NERC Reference No. 10313). [[Page 73434]] 39.......... MOD-024....................... 693 P 1308 ``In order to This directive is continue redundant with verifying and the directive in reporting gross paragraph 1147, and net real which has already power generating been addressed capability needed and is reflected for reliability in section A assessment and above. future plans, we direct the ERO to develop a Work Plan and submit a compliance filing.'' (NERC Reference No. 10317). 40.......... MOD-024....................... 693 P 1312 ``Direct the ERO This directive is to use its redundant with authority the directive in pursuant to Sec. paragraph 1147, 39.2(d) of our which has already regulations to been addressed require users, and is reflected owners and in section A operators to above. provide this information.'' (NERC Reference No. 10314). 41.......... MOD-025....................... 693 P 1320 ``In order to This directive is continue redundant with verifying and the directive in reporting gross paragraph 1147, and net reactive which has already power generating been addressed capability needed and is reflected for reliability in section A assessment and above. future plans, we direct the ERO to develop a Work Plan as defined in the Common Issues section.'' (NERC Reference No. 10321). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Attachment B will not appear in the Code of Federal Regulations. Attachment B Commenters on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking The American Public Power Association, Edison Electric Institute, Electricity Consumers Resource Council, Electric Power Supply Association, Large Public Power Council, and Transmission Access Policy Group (collectively, Trade Associations) Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) Dominion Resources Services, Inc., on behalf of Virginia Electric and Power Company, doing business as Dominion Virginia Power; Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc.; Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC; Dominion Energy Manchester Street, Inc.; Elwood Energy, LLC; Kincaid Generation, LLC; and Fairless Energy, LLC International Transmission Company d/b/a ITCTransmission, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, LLC, ITC Midwest LLC and ITC Great Plains, LLC (ITC) ISO/RTO Council National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) [FR Doc. 2013-28516 Filed 12-5-13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


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With Hack Day nearly upon us here in London, I've been looking back at how the program has evolved. The Wikipedia entry on Hack Day defines the format pretty well ("an open participatory hacking session where attendees are encouraged to create web applications that utilize one or more of Yahoo's APIs and open source libraries") but it's a lot more than that. As Havi Hoffman put it, "Hack Day is a showcase - recognition and celebration - of grassroots engineering ingenuity that is happening every day now."
Here's a brief history of Hack Day to date, starting with our initial event:
December 8, 2005
With many sources of inspiration behind us, the first internal Hack Day launched within the Search team as an experiment in driving grassroots innovation. Hackers were given total freedom to pursue their ideas, some food and drink for sustenance, and presentations to your peers at the end of the day. The event exceeded all expectations. When the number of demos tripled our initial expectations, we improvised a new rule on the spot: only 90 seconds to present. The die was cast for future events.
March 24, 2006
The second internal Hack Day was even bigger, and the hacks started getting more sophisticated. On only the second event, a culture started coalescing within the company, best explained by Matt McAlister's post, "Top 10 reasons why Hack Day rocks". There was clear momentum.
April 21, 2006
Hack Day went international as the Yahoo! Bangalore team jumped into the game, and they even launched a product out of the effort called Our City that has become a big success in India. You can read more about the Our City story. GigaOM found this interesting, too:
"Taking bookmarks from Del.icio.us, events from Upcoming, Flickr photos, News and even blogs. Flickr modules are seriously hot. They are taking data from Wikipedia and adding it to the mix... Pretty easy to get a quick snapshot of what? happening in a city. If they can roll this out across the world, I think they easily best Google? local efforts."
The Bangalore experience confirmed a feeling I had all along -- the hacker spirit is universal.
June 15-16, 2006
All Yahoo! staff in the Sunnyvale Headquarters were then encouraged to participate in the June Hack Day in 2006. We had well over 100 demos. The results of Hack Day began to really show both in the way people operated internally and in the ways our products started improving. Teams began building new hacks on top of infrastructure from prior Hack Days.
July 4, 2006
Hack Day #2 in Bangalore. They now have their own polished and very successful program.
July 6, 2006
We then tried a pan-European Hack Day and linked the presentations from London, Germany and France. Despite a few glitches in the demo process, the hackers were really inspired and started pushing for more. They continue to run their own local program just like the US and Bangalore teams.
September 29, 2006
After so many successes with Yahoo! engineers hacking on Yahoo's platforms, bringing outside developers in to hack on the APIs we offer on the Yahoo! Developer Network made complete sense. Like our internal Hack Days, we wanted to step aside and leave plenty of room to let our outside developers be the stars of the show. We were looking forward to getting together with our developer community, but had no idea just how fantastically successful the event would be. Here are some of the numbers from that spectacle.:
54 hacks
55 dozen Krispy Kremes
250 pizzas
400 Hackers
4000+ flickr photos
I still can't believe how well it went, leaving some people to say quite simply: "Yahoo! is the s***". As I explained previously:
"If anyone out there is wondering how we pulled this off, I offer one clue: total pros rolling up their sleeves to do whatever needed to be done...I learned that inspiration might be the world? only renewable energy source and it scales like a [insert expletive here]."
9 months later, I still feel just as strongly about it.
Recognizing the universal hacker spirit, it made sense to take the Open Hack Day concept abroad. The UK team was particularly receptive, and we found that there were some similar concepts being tested at places like the BBC. Their Backstage team has a very similar approach to openness with the developer community, and we immediately realized that Hack Day could evolve into something even bigger. We knew instantly that we were on to something good:
"One result of the first Open Hack Day was that our expectations of what a developer event could and should be were raised dramatically. Then we had the nice problem of figuring out how to do it again."
This is a great problem to have. As we extend Hack Day internationally, I think we'll always go back to some of those original inspirations, particularly Eric Raymond's seminal explanation of what it means to hack:
"Hacking might be characterized as 'an appropriate application of ingenuity'. Whether the result is a quick-and-dirty patchwork job or a carefully crafted work of art, you have to admire the cleverness that went into it."
We will continue to apply that spirit in the way we run the event itself in hopes that it creates the right environment for people to explore the art of the hack.
I can't wait to see how it continues to evolve from here -- I'm looking forward to seeing what our new friends in London will come up with!
Chad Dickerson

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Helping the media cover the South African story.
Snap daily forecasts for 20 cities and towns.
International arrivals at OR Tambo International, Africa's biggest airport (Photo: 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa Organising Committee)
African Government Online
South African Tourism
South African National Parks
Wines of South Africa
South African Broadcasting Corporation
South African Airways
Business Unity South Africa


text:
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- In his 70 years of living along the Grand River, Gary Berryhill has never been one to overreact to the rising waters flowing over the banks, up his lawn and eventually submerging Abrigador Trail.
It simply alters his life - he moves his truck to higher ground and uses a boat to get to and from his house - and the 76-year-old moves on.
The flood event caused by five inches of rain this month and a storm system expected to dump between 1 inch and 3 inches on the Grand Rapids area through Friday isn't fraying Berryhill's nerves. He says it floods to some degree every year.
"This one may be a bit worse but it doesn't compare to 1947 when we got 7 feet of water," he said.
The National Weather Service said as of Wednesday night the river had climbed to 14.2 feet, more than 2 feet over the 12-foot flood stage. The river could rise to 18.3 feet - an all-time record - by Monday morning, forecasters predicted.
Berryhill, on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 17, was dressed in waders and boots as he parked his boat near his truck. He said his house, where he was raised by his parents and eventually bought from them, is built about 8-feet off the ground to protect it from flooding.
"I am learning to go get groceries, put them in my truck, then in the boat and then head home again," Berryhill said of how he's coped with the flooding.
Bruce Ling, a 56-year-old self-employed electrician who also lives along Abrigador, was at home Wednesday rather than at a job site. He was collecting milk crates on top of which he will place his refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, bed, dressers and desks to protect the belongings if, and likely when, water enters his house.
"Right now I should be at work but I am here instead taking care of the house," said Ling.
Ling, an observer for the National Weather Service, said he thinks this round of flooding may be the worst since 2004.
Further north on the river at Terry Snyder's house along Forest Ridge Avenue NE, near Coit and Jupiter avenues, the 46-year-old recalls tying his boat to the house and using a personal watercraft to get around.
"It's something that happens often around here," Snyder said.
Kent County Emergency Manager Jack Stewart encouraged people to monitor the river, evacuate if necessary and observe road signs.
"For the most part, people here respect the river and are very careful," he said.
Stewart said the predictions of how high the river will rise could put people at risk.
"If that turns out to be accurate, people will probably start evacuating sometime on Friday," he said.


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The sire power lost when Scat Daddy collapsed and died suddenly Dec. 14, 2015, at age 11 was substantial, but he has six sons standing at stud.
The sire power lost when Scat Daddy collapsed and died suddenly Dec. 14, 2015, at age 11 was substantial, but he has six sons standing at stud.
Though the Sunland Park Derby has been canceled, a full field of 12 is lined up to contest its replacement, the $415,000 Sunland Park Festival of Racing Stakes March 20 at the New Mexico track.
Sunland Park has effectively canceled this year's editions of the Sunland Derby (gr. III) and the Sunland Park Oaks, both significant points races for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I).
A bobbled start was only a minor setback for Karl Pergola's K P Wildcat in the $75,000 Island Fashion Overnight Stakes at Sunland Park Feb. 26, the track's first day of racing in more than a month.
Track plans to get non-impacted runners back in action despite virus.
Officials at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino are working to curtail an outbreak of equine herpesvirus that has resulted in 64 horses testing positive, including six that have died, and could impact the track's premier race.
Conveyance, a multiple graded stakes-winning son of Indian Charlie, has been retired and will stand the 2016 breeding season at Doug Arnold's Buck Pond Farm near Versailles, Ky.
No horse entered in this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) owns a more decisive victory than Firing Line, who won the Sunland Derby (gr. III) by 14 1/4 lengths.
Line of David is off to a promising start to his stud career -- he is near the top of the 2015 second-crop sire list. So far he has been represented by two stakes winners: Firing Line and Cross the Line.
A stakes schedule worth $1.155 million will be offered to horsemen during The Downs at Albuquerque Racetrack and Casino's 39-day spring meet that begins Friday, April 17.
Arnold Zetcher's Firing Line threw his hat emphatically into the ring of Triple Crown contenders with a dominating victory in the $800,000 Sunland Derby (gr. III) March 22 at Sunland Park.
J. Keeler Johnson handicaps the Sunland Derby (gr. III) at Sunland Park. read blog
Lord Nelson, who appeared to be one of the only challengers to favored Firing Line in the $800,000 Sunland Derby March 22, will not be making the trip to New Mexico, trainer Bob Baffert said March 19 at Santa Anita Park.
There will be no Dortmund in the $800,000 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park March 22 and Firing Line will almost surely be favored for the first time since he broke his maiden at Del Mar Nov. 30.
Arnold Zetcher's Firing Line had his final local breeze the morning of March 15 at Santa Anita Park in preparation for the $800,000 Sunland Derby (gr. III).
Bouncing back from a ninth-place finish in last month's Raven Run Stakes (gr. II), eastern invader Cassatt led at every call while drawing off in the final furlong for an emphatic win in the $309,000 Zia Park Oaks Nov. 26.
Scat Daddy is on quite a roll in Chile, having sired seven Chilean group winners (including two group I winners) since the beginning of 2014.
Sunland Derby (gr. III) winner Chitu worked six furlongs from the Churchill Downs' starting gate in 1:13 1/5 the morning of April 27 in his final preparations for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
Evan Hammonds recaps his top 5 Kentucky Derby prep race performances by horses still on the Kentucky Derby trail. watch video
Evan Hammonds recaps his top 5 Kentucky Derby prep race performances by horses still on the Kentucky Derby trail.
Did the Sunland Derby and Spiral Stakes shake Steve Haskin's Kentucky Derby Dozen this week? You may be surprised, read and find out! read blog
Favored Chitu put away stablemate Midnight Hawk in the drive for the wire as trainer Bob Baffert accounted for the first two finishers in the $800,000 Sunland Derby (gr. III) March 23 in New Mexico.
The Road to the Kentucky Derby Showdown features 2 races this weekend, the Spiral Stakes and the Sunland Derby. read blog
Escaping Oaklawn Park, stakes-winning Tanzanite Cat faces a pair of tough entrants from both Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher as part of a deep field for the $800,000 Sunland Derby (gr. III) March 23 in New Mexico.
We're almost there, folks. The first of the final Kentucky Derby prep races are being held this weekend. read blog
|Breeder / Owner
|David Jacobson
|Daddy Nose Best
|Steven M. Asmussen
|Ender Knievel
|Todd A. Pletcher
|Isn't He Clever
|Henry Dominguez
|David Wolochuk
|No Spin
|Allen Milligan
|Stirred Up
|Bob Baffert
|Magnolia S.
|Gold Cup S.
|Fiesta Mile S.
|Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame S.
|New Mexico Classic Cup Distaff Sprint Championship S.


text:
Ironic, isn't it?
This spring we were hoping our offense and bullpen would be able to shoulder the burden for an iffy starting rotation.
Here we are a month into the season and Duaner Sanchez is a non-factor, Aaron Heilman has
Yet we're just a half-game out of first place because of our rotation.
Tom Glavine, John Maine, El Duque and Oliver Perez are a combined 12-4 and have thrown 16 quality starts in 21 outings. (A start is considered "quality" when a pitcher throws at least six innings and gives up three runs or less. FYI: I did count Ollie's start yesterday as quality even though he was one out shy. Ten Ks gets you a little extra credit in my book.)
Sure Mike Pelfrey's been shaky in the 5th spot, but what team isn't struggling at the back of its rotation? And don't worry about El Duque. As fellow blogger Dean Balsamini (he posts on the Advance's Yankees Watch site... check him out) told me, this is one of about three short DL stints we'll have to allot the veteran so he can be fresh to work his magic in September and October. It'll be worth it.
We'll be facing a couple of good pitchers on this West Coast trip, so it'll be interesting to see how we fare. Talk to you soon...
Mets in '07
PS: I've got some vaca coming my way and I'll be leaving for Florida this morning. But I'll be bringing my laptop so we can stay in touch. Leave me some comments so I have something to read in Key West!


text:
SEO RX Webmaster Toolbar 4.8.5
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Friends recall football player as 'a special, special kid'
Moore Catholic student was a gifted athlete and a great teammate
For the rest of this season and for the rest of their lives, the teammates, coaches and friends of Moore Catholic football and baseball player Johnny Ray will be playing with a heavy heart.
Ray, a 16-year-old junior at Moore, was killed in a car accident in Midland Beach on Saturday evening. The mood of those involved with the Mavericks athletic program and the school alike, was predictably, shock.
"This is the single worst day of our world," said Moore Catholic football coach Greg Rocco. "He was the best athlete I've ever coached, and that's including my days at (Monsignor) Farrell and Staten Island Tech. He was just the best. He had that charisma."
"I don't even know what to say," said Moore baseball coach Nick Doscher, who had Ray as his shortstop last season. "We just can't believe it. Your heart goes out to the family. What do you even say? This was a kid that lit up a room. And just like that, he's gone."
"He was just a really, really good kid," said Moore Catholic athletic director Rich Postiglione. "He was very personable and he was a talented kid."
Postiglione said that school will be open as usual, though "all activities" including sports events, have been postponed until further notice.
"But obviously no one is thinking about that right now," Postiglione said.
Ray was a junior receiver for the Mavericks, who won Saturday afternoon to improve to 7-0. Ray did not have a catch and played sparingly in Saturday's lopsided Homecoming win over Snyder.
Ray had 210 receiving yards and three TD catches this season, but had really made his mark as a kick returner.
Rocco said at practices, Ray was known for doing a trick where he'd catch six or seven balls, holding on to all of them simultaneously without dropping one.
His shining moment of the season was on Oct. 3 when Ray accounted for 184 all-purpose yards, including an 80-yard kick return for a TD in a 16-14 win over Long Island Lutheran. He also made two catches for 62 yards, a receiving TD and two rushes for 24 yards. That game, Rocco called "his best game." The coach also remarked: "I don't know where we'd be without him this year."
In the spring, Ray was Moore's shortstop and leadoff hitter. He batted .410 for the Mavs, with eight RBI, 11 runs and four steals.
"I still can't believe it," said Tom Todaro, now at Caldwell College, who was a captain of both Moore's football and baseball teams last season, Ray's first on varsity. "He was a team player, cared about the team and his teammates. In baseball, especially, he had all five tools. After next year, he would have went somewhere big to play in college."
Ray was already being recruited by Rutgers football, according to Rocco, and other schools for both sports.
"He's one of the most athletic kids I ever coached. He was unlimited, so much ability and he was probably our best player as a sophomore," said Doscher. "He did things at shortstop last year and we marveled at them. We always say 'you either have it or you don't' and Johnny Ray had it. Just when he walked out there he looked like a player."
"He just sent me a text message the other day telling me he wanted to find a school where he could try to play both," said Rocco. "(Saturday) after homecoming, the kids were doing some crazy dance and Johnny was leading the dance. Next thing I heard about him was that he was dead.
"It's cruel. It's senseless. It makes you question your faith. It's just not fair, but it's something we are all going to have to live with. He was a special, special kid."


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LOS ANGELES — The man accused of opening fire at Los Angeles International Airport, shooting employees and terrorizing travelers, accomplished two of his goals, according to authorities: killing a Transportation Security Administration officer and showing how easy it is to get a gun into an airport.
The deadly rampage left investigators to piece together what motivated Paul Ciancia's hatred toward the agency formed to make air travel safer after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But the attack could ultimately lead to changes in the way airports are patrolled.
Ciancia, who was shot four times by airport police, remained in critical condition on Monday. He has not been scheduled to appear in court. Any appearance will depend on when his doctors say he's ready, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
The FBI said Ciancia had a handwritten letter, stating that he made the conscious decision to try to kill multiple TSA officers and "instill fear in your traitorous minds."
The unemployed motorcycle mechanic who recently moved to Los Angeles from the small, blue-collar town of Pennsville, N.J., had a friend drop him at LAX on Friday just moments before he pulled a .223-caliber assault rifle from his duffel bag and opened fire, killing one TSA officer and wounding three other people, including two more TSA workers.
Officials do not believe that the friend knew of the shooter's plans. Ciancia arrived at the airport in a black Hyundai and was not a ticketed passenger.
Ciancia is charged with murder of a federal officer and committing violence at an international airport, charges that could qualify him for the death penalty. It was not immediately clear when he would make a first court appearance given his medical condition.
In court documents and interviews, authorities spelled out a chilling chain of events, saying Ciancia walked into the airport's Terminal 3, pulled the assault rifle from his duffel bag and fired repeatedly at 39-year-old TSA officer Gerardo I. Hernandez. He went up an escalator, turned back to see Hernandez move and returned to shoot him again, according to surveillance video reviewed by investigators.
He then fired on two other uniformed TSA employees and an airline passenger, who all were wounded, as he moved methodically through the security checkpoint to the passenger gate area before airport police shot him as panicked travelers hid in stores and restaurants.
AP Photo/Nick Ut Security officers check a vehicle at a perimeter access road to Los Angeles International Airport on Monday. TSA Officer Gerardo I. Hernandez was killed and two officers and one civilian wounded in a shooting at LAX Friday, Nov. 1. Operations at the airport were back to normal Monday, the first business day since the attack.×


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The Persians is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus. First produced in 472 BC, it is the oldest surviving play in the history of theatre. It dramatises the Persian response to news of their military defeat at the Battle of Salamis (480 BC), which was a decisive episode in the Greco–Persian Wars; as such, the play is also notable for being the only extant Greek tragedy that is based on contemporary events.
Published: Start Publishing LLC an imprint of NBN Books on Nov 1, 2012


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A little more than a year ago, Woodburn boys soccer often heard how it couldn't win the big one, having come up short three times in state championship games.
Now the question may soon become: can any other school in Oregon win the big one in Class 5A boys soccer?
Woodburn won its second consecutive state championship Saturday after Juan Martinez's long run produced a goal in the 67th minute to lift the Bulldogs to a 2-1 win over Wilson at Hillsboro Stadium.
The Bulldogs (18-1) are stocked for the future, with a pipeline loaded with young players ready to take over for the four senior starters from this year's title team.
Is three, four, perhaps a five-year title run in the cards for Woodburn?
"The way I'm looking at it, that's the plan," Bulldogs coach Luis Del Rio said. "At least get to the semis every year. We have too much talent not to."
Title No. 2 didn't come easy, as Woodburn had to battle back from a 1-0 deficit by scoring two goals during the second half. If there's a team the Bulldogs have had trouble with during their two-year run, it's Wilson. The Trojans are the only 5A schools to beat Woodburn the past two years; in 2010, Wilson scored three quick goals and held on for a 3-2 regular-season over the Bulldogs.
The Trojans (14-2-2) jumped to a 1-0 lead during the game's ninth minute when Tristan Anastas took a pass from Eric Vo and finished the close range shot with a goal. Woodburn had several chances to tie the game during the first half, and the Bulldogs decided their quick passing, use-the-wings approach was working well enough to keep the game plan intact after halftime.
"If we picked our intensity up," said Martinez, "we knew things would go our way."
The Bulldogs got the equalizer during the 48th minute on an effective two-man play between Martinez and Michael Hobson, the latter scoring on a 10-yard shot.
It set the stage for Martinez, who got the ball on a counter attack about 40 yards from the goal. The Woodburn senior dribbled past one defender and into the penalty box, where he blasted a left-footed 15-yarder into the right corner for the game winner.
Wilson was gunning for its first state championship in boys soccer. The Trojans' last reached the state final in 1981.
"I knew we'd be top five in the state, but I didn't know if we'd get this far," Wilson senior midfielder Connor Wear said. "Not many Wilson teams can say they played for a state championship. I'm pretty proud of these guys."


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Sometimes called the Giant Ichneumon, this black and yellow/white banded species has orange legs and is the largest ichneumon in Britain and one of the largest in Europe. It grows to around 40mm in length and females have another 40 mm ovipositor on top.
It is normally found in coniferous or mixed woodland
Peaking in July and August
It searches for the larvae of Horntails or Longhorn Beetles which have buried in fallen timber. The female then uses her ovipositor to drill down to the larvae and then lay an egg which hatches and parasitize the poor host.
Local but fairly frequent and widespread in Britain
Fairly frequent but not common in Leicestershire and Rutland.
Enter a town or village to see local records


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A Christian writer who flourished in the time of Commodus (180-92); he was a native of Asia who came to Rome where he was a pupil of Tatian's. He wrote several books, two of which are mentioned by Eusebius (Hist. eccl., V, xiii), viz., a treatise on "The Six Days of Creation" and a work against the Marcionites in which he dwelled upon the various opinions which divided them. Eusebius, upon whom we depend exclusively for our knowledge of Rhodo, quotes some passages from the latter work, in one of which an account is given of the Marcionite Apelles. St. Jerome (De vir. ill.) amplifies Eusebius's account somewhat by making Rhodo the author of a work against the Cataphrygians -- probably he had in mind an anonymous work quoted by Eusebius a little later (op. cit., V, xvi).
The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed between 1907 and 1912 in fifteen hard copy volumes.
Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.
No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.
Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912
Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online


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G.N. Marks
School Effectiveness and School Improvement, vol. 18, 2007, p. 429-450
In Australia not completing school is associated with poorer labour market outcomes. Early school leavers are more likely to become unemployed, have lower earnings, and over the life course accumulate less wealth. This article explores the relative importance of students' social characteristics, their academic performance, and schools themselves for school leaving using longitudinal data from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. The strongest influence on school leaving was academic performance in the PISA tests. In general, academically weak students are more likely not to complete school. The effects of student performance on early leaving are about four times stronger than those of socioeconomic and cultural background. These early school leavers can probably be best helped by post school vocational training.
J.J. Cumming and E.A. Dickson
Education and the Law, vol. 19, 2007, p. 201-220
When educators consider issues of equity, their predominant concern is accommodation of students with special needs, cultural issues, and creating alternative assessment activities that have equivalence to standard tests, so as not to advantage or disadvantage any student in their demonstration of knowledge. This article examines equity issues in assessment from a legal perspective, drawing on case histories from Australia, and based in discrimination and disability law. It is intended to assist authorities and practitioners to understand legal implications of educational assessment in order to promote practices that reduce the likelihood of legal claims.
M.P. Gius
American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 66, 2007, p. 925-936
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 are designed to protect the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. More and more parents are now requesting that accommodations be provided under these acts for disabled pupils in state schools, putting additional pressure on education budgets. This study used a panel data set consisting of all 50 US states for the years 1987-2000 to determine if the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 had resulted in a statistically significant increase in per-student public education expenditures at state level. Results indicate that the Act increased per-student educational spending at the state level, but by less than 2%.
S. Rodrigues (editor)
New York: Nova Science, 2005
The chapters presented in the book signal a range of professional development models that are being employed by the international science education community and strive to make more explicit some of the theoretical bases on which these models stand. In addition, many of the chapters provide an indication of the importance of teacher agency, teacher risk taking and teacher reflection, by demonstrating:
Overall, the contributors provide a view of teacher professional development, not in terms of outcomes, but in terms of process. The various chapters also examine the potential of partnership in the development, and impact, of teacher professional development.
J. Masschelein and others (editors)
Oxford: Blackwell, 2007
The book combines works from educationalists, philosophers, historians and sociologists on the topic of the learning society from the perspective of 'governmentality', the approach originally opened up by the French philosopher Michel Foucault. The studies presented, look at ideas and programmes of education as being part of the history of the ways in which human beings conduct and govern themselves and others in the light of specific truth games. They assume there is an intrinsic relationship between the intellectual and practical educational technologies on the one hand and the way in which political power is wielded in our societies, as well as the way in which we govern ourselves, on the other hand. Educational research, from the perspective of governmentality, has been carried out in the Anglo-Saxon world since the beginning of the 1990s and more recently a range of investigations have been set up in the continental context. Both lines of research are present in the book although the more recent continental research prevails.
W.-W. Law
Education and the Law, vol. 19, 2007, p. 177-199
In 1986 China enacted the Basic Education Law which required the provision of nine years of compulsory schooling for all children. This law enabled China move to provision of universal basic education in a relatively short time, about two decades. However, it did not guarantee provision of good quality education, allowed excessive workloads to be imposed on pupils, and permitted the national emergence of fee abuse, in the shape of the imposition of dubious charges on families by schools. In response, and to rectify these problems, the law was significantly revised in 2006. This article shows that law can be used as a tool for social justice that helps to defend children's right to access good quality basic education.
R.M. Ylimaki, S.L. Jacobson and L. Drysdale
School Effectiveness and School Improvement, vol. 18, 2007, p. 361-381
This article reports case study findings which demonstrate how principals of 13 schools in deprived areas in the USA, England and Australia contributed to improved performance. In the 13 schools studied, principals often demonstrated similar leadership traits and practices. All the principals studied were experiencing changing demographics, increased accountability, higher expectations for student performance, and organisational reforms. In spite of these challenges, all 13 principals demonstrated exemplary leadership skills and were also successful in developing staff, redesigning the organisation, and managing the instructional programme.
C. Woolfson
Journal of European Social Policy, vol. 18, 2008, p. 79-87
Vocational education and training is regarded by EU policymakers as crucial to creating a high-skill workforce capable of adapting to European and global demands in an intensified competitive environment. Initiated in 2002, the Copenhagen process is intended to foster enhanced European cooperation in this field, with a target of developing an integrated framework of qualification recognition at a European level by 2010. The European social partner organisations of employers and trade unions have throughout been seen as key stakeholders in the Copenhagen process. In Latvia, inherent weaknesses in the social dialogue between employers and trade unions compromise the development of joint initiatives which could translate European policy goals into sustainable ground-level initiatives, In particular, the trade union voice in the implementation of any new lifelong learning strategy is likely to remain muted. In addition, 'short-termism' has been the dominant approach to questions of training by employers in neo-liberal post-communist states such as Latvia, while political actors appear to be largely indifferent to issues of human resource development.
M. van der Wal and S. Waslander
School Effectiveness and School Improvement, vol. 18, 2007, p. 409-428
Due to globalisation, technological innovation and cultural pluralism, schools have recently been asked to develop non-traditional competencies such as self-efficacy and learning skills in their pupils, as well as imparting traditional factual subject knowledge. This article explores the question of whether schools can achieve both goals, or whether one set of competencies will be sacrificed in order to deliver the other. By reviewing the literature and conducting multivariate multilevel analysis on data gathered in 26 secondary schools in the Netherlands, this article addresses the probability of trade-off between educational outcomes. The analyses produced no clear evidence for the occurrence of trade-off, but did not support the proposition that traditional and non-traditional competencies are complementary either. It is concluded that both trade-off and complementary may occur, depending on specific school conditions.
L. Clarke and C. Winch (editors)
London: Routledge, 2007
The book features contributions from a team of international experts who put forward the argument that too often national vocational education and training (VET) policy has been formulated in ignorance of historical and political developments in other countries and without proper consideration of the social objectives that it might help achieve. A wide range of contrasting international approaches and development strategies are examined in order to demonstrate the central role of the state in implementing an effective system of VET and to assess the extent to which different VET policies can promote equality in the labour market and social justice. Key themes include: