has created a Web resource
to help communities assess the potential
and hazards of Y2K-related chemical accidents.
He writes "I've added several new articles, letters
and reports about Y2K and chemical hazards
including:
* planned chemical plant shutdowns
* California and Y2K hazmat problems
* smaller chemical facilities
These can be found at:
http://www.mapcruzin.com/rmp_maps/rmp_resources.htm
Y2K chemical risk maps can be found at:
http://www.mapcruzin.com/rmp_maps/
A short introduction on the connection between
Y2K and chemical accidents can be found at:
http://www.mapcruzin.com/rmp_maps/about_maps.htm
I'll be updating these pages as quickly as
resources allow. Please check back often." --MM
>>> "Y2KOUNTDOWN"
"Y2Kountdown", is the Center's weekly "blast fax".
It is sent to several hundred key media contacts in
the areas of health care, health policy, the
environment, as well as general assignment
editors. Our latest two issues are:
* Issue 16 / November 24, 1999 Millennium
Bug Wildcard
* Issue 17 / December 2, 1999 Poor and
Vulnerable Still At Risk
HTML versions of the Y2Kountdown faxes, suitable
for printing and faxing, can be found at:
www.y2kcenter.org/news/bf.html .
The text of the latest Y2Kountdowns follow:
=================================================
Y2Kountdown : Center for Y2K & Society
Issue 18 : November 24, 1999 : 37 Days Left
Expert Available for Comment
Mark Frautschi, Ph.D. can be reached at the
Center for Y2K & Society at 202 775-3149.
For more detailed background about Y2K and
embedded systems, please see Dr. Frautschi's
paper, "Embedded Systems and the Year 2000
Problem (The OTHER Year 2000 Problem)" on the
Internet at www.tmn.com/~frautsch/y2k2.html .
MILLENNIUM BUG WILDCARD
One of the largest remaining Y2K wildcards is the
issue of embedded systems. Embedded systems
are the small computers built into everything from
manufacturing plants to healthcare equipment to
water supply systems. We know shockingly little
about which and how many embedded systems
might fail because of Y2K.
Just this week, Secretary of Commerce William
Daley urged American businesses to "redouble
their efforts" to test for Y2K problems in embedded
systems. He did so because the National Institute
of Standards and Technology concluded that "it is
possible that many important systems have not
been tested adequately."
It is a common misconception that devices that do
not need to keep track of dates are not vulnerable
to Y2K failures. Most devices that do not need
dates do have internal calendar clocks used for
time-keeping. Yet many organizations have chosen
to ignore the implications of failures of this type of
embedded system.
Businesses and governments are relying too
heavily upon vendor and manufacturer compliance
statements. These statements are sometimes
misleading, they can change, and they almost
never give indication of how a device will behave in
the real world, where products from many
manufacturers must interact with one another.
Many organizations have also failed to consider
Y2K problems with their embedded systems that
could occur at any point in the new century. For
example, problems could be caused by Y2K
failures during a very common self-test mechanism
that runs when a device turns itself on. By failing to
disconnect internal backup batteries during Y2K
tests, many organizations will miss some of these
self-test failures, and thereby leave themselves
Y2K-vulnerable.
Furthermore, most embedded systems operate in
several modes. Each of these modes accesses
different programming, which may invoke different
date dependent routines. Some functions, such as
calibration and maintenance, may be scheduled
monthly, quarterly or even yearly. Consequently, a
Y2K failure may occur long after January 1 as a
device operates in a new mode for the first time.
The Center for Y2K and Society recommends the
following:
1. Perform end-to-end tests of all critical
systems. Exercise caution, as these are
potentially destructive and generally require
that the system be taken out of production.
2. Remain vigilant in tracking vendor
compliance statements, even for devices
previously deemed "compliant." Develop
contingency plans for unexpected reversals
in vendor statements.
3. Develop worker training and assign
additional staff for each instance where
critical systems are brought up for the first
time (in each of their operating modes) after
1/1/2000. Train workers to remain vigilant for
embedded system failures for the remainder
of 1999 and throughout 2000.
It's not just about computers. It's about people.
=================================================
=================================================
Y2Kountdown : Center for Y2K & Society
Issue 19 : December 2, 1999 : 29 Days Left
Experts Available for Comment
For further comment, please contact Norman Dean
or Margaret Anderson at the Center for Y2K and
Society at 202-775-3157.
Have You Heard?
Tuesday's Washington Post noted that Rep.
Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) expressed concern at
a recent news conference that Y2K problems could
delay benefit checks.
According to Rep. Davis, delayed benefit checks
will inconvenience not only those people who are
living paycheck to paycheck but also congressional
offices. If benefit checks are delayed, "they're
going to be calling our offices like crazy," Davis
said. "It's going to be a lot of work for the
congressional offices."
Poor and Vulnerable Still At Risk
With only 29 days until the year 2000, it appears
increasingly likely that some key government
benefit programs will fail in certain states, harming
those least able to protect themselves: the poor,
the sick, the elderly and young children. Areas of
concern as January 1 approaches include:
Public Housing
Families who live in public housing are at risk of
losing their heating, elevators, and fire and security
systems because of Y2K problems, according to
Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Ca.) last week. Rep. Horn
pointed to an October audit report from the
Department of Housing and Urban Development's
Inspector General who found that local public
housing authorities in 8 of the 9 cities audited by
the office were seriously behind in their Y2K
remediation efforts.
The cities in which the audits were conducted are:
Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, the District of
Columbia, Fort Worth, New Orleans, New York,
and Omaha. Only in New York City do local
housing authorities have a plan to warn tenants of
the potential risk to their health and safety, Rep.
Horn said.
Medicaid
The November 22nd report from the Health Care
Financing Administration (see www.hcfa.gov/y2K/
medicaid/readyfs.htm ) indicates that there are still
10 states and territories at high or medium risk for
failure in January of their Medicaid payment and/or
eligibility systems:
* 2 States are at high-risk in one category --
Alabama and New Hampshire.
* 2 territories are at high-risk in one category --
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
* The District of Columbia and 2 states --
Oklahoma and Wyoming -- are at
medium-risk in both categories.
* 5 States are at medium-risk in one category
and low-risk in the other -- Delaware,
Nevada, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont.
Food Stamps
According to the latest information from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, food stamp programs
were not Y2K compliant as of the end of
September in the District of Columbia and 7 states
-- New Hampshire, Ohio, Alabama,Arkansas,
Georgia, Illinois and Oklahoma -- and 2 territories
-- Guam and the Virgin Islands.
The USDA (see www.fns.usda.gov/fns/MENU/
Y2K/Y2K.HTM ) indicates all of the states and
territories and the District of Columbia expected to
report compliance in October or November.
However, we do not have information yet on
whether any of these states have achieved
compliance. Furthermore, as so often is the case,
the federal government continues to rely on
self-reported data.
It's not just about computers. It's about people.
=================================================
>>> NEW ON OUR WEB SITE
* Y2K Safety Shutdowns Planned is a new
section on our Web site where we are collecting
information about "safety holidays" planned around
the rollover period by facilities that handle
hazardous materials as well as other companies
(see www.y2kcenter.org/resources/safety/ ).
* The Latino Outreach Project: Encouraging
Civic Leadership on Y2K Issues. The Center's
Latino Outreach Project invites latino leaders to
become engaged on Y2K as well as provides
"Specific Suggestions for Policy" and "A Briefing
for Latino Elected and Appointed Officials" (see
www.y2kcenter.org/espanol/ ).
* Yet More Grantee Reports have been submitted
and are now posted to the "Y2K Grant Program --
Reports" section of our Web site (see
www.y2kcenter.org/grants/gs_reports.html ).
* Additional "Best Practices" have been
collected, including:
- A "Y2K flyer for holiday shoppers" has
been prepared by the NOVA Y2K group.
- Y2K: What It Means to You is a 22-page
booklet by Michael Redman (from the pages
of the Bloomington Independent).
- TV ads urging Y2K awareness from New
Zealand feature a mascot cockroach who
warns: "Be Y2K wise. All it takes is a little bit
of planning, a little bit of thought."
- Y2K Connections is a scenario game that
helps to build community as players
brainstorm how potential Y2K disruptions
could impact them.
Go to the "Best Practices" section under
"Resources" to see these and other examples of
what communities are doing. ( www.y2kcenter.org/
bestprax/ )
>>> TELL US WHO WE SHOULD REACH
Please write to us and suggest the names of
organizations and leaders you think should be
aware of our messages. We'll do our best to
contact them. (Write to info@y2kcenter.org.)
You can help us get the word out about our site and
its resources to as many people as possible by
forwarding this Alert with your friends and
colleagues. We expect to be one of a few nonprofit
Y2K sites on the Web in the January through March
period.
>>> SUBSCRIBING TO THE Y2K CENTER ALERT NETWORK
If you have received this Alert via a friend and you
would like to join our e-mail list to receive future
editions, you may either subscribe via the form at
www.y2kcenter.org/lists/ or you may send an e-mail
message to y2kcenter-subscribe@listbot.com .
Past Alerts are archived at
www.y2kcenter.org/lists/alerts.html .
Thank you.
-- Daren Henderson (TryChange@aol.com), December 15, 1999