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Introduction

The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005), signed by President Bush on August 8, 2005, among its many, many provisions, amends the Uniform Time Act of 1966 by changing the start and end dates of daylight saving time (DST) in the US. DST begins three weeks earlier and ends one week later, effective in 2007. DST now begins the second week of March and ends the first week in November (March 11 and November 4 in 2007). Other areas, including Canada and Bermuda, also choose to follow the new rules.

CalConnect, the Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium, has been interested and active in timezone and DST issues almost since its inception in December 2004.

In June 2005, CalConnect issued a press release, “EDST Change Untimely” and a “DST Advisory Notice”, both of which “…​suggested a simple delay of the effective date (at that point set to March 2006) of the pending legislation to insure that calendar and scheduling vendors and consumers have ample time to prepare for any changes.”

In October 2005, CalConnect conducted a timezone survey and issued the “Report on TIMEZONE Questionnaire Results”.

In May 2006, representatives of CalConnect met with consultants for the Japanese government which was studying a return to DST. DST has not been observed in Japan since 1952.

In February 2007, CalConnect issued the press release, “CalConnect Gives Guidance to IT Staff on Impact of DST Change”, published “Extended Daylight Saving Time — Review and Considerations”, and created the “Extended Daylight Saving Time Links, Advisories and Changes” web page to assist system administrators in tracking vendor updates and DST-related news and information.

In August 2007, CalConnect reactivated its TIMZONE Technical Committee, which was originally convened in June 2005.

CalConnect’s “Extended Daylight Saving Time Review and Considerations” promised a future “Lessons Learned and Recommendations for the Future” document based on real-world experiences over the transition time in March to the new DST rules”. This document fulfills that promise.