The level of effort with verifying that TCKs can be passed should be commensurate with the changes in the release. We already have spec project teams complaining that the effort to release a spec is too much. I took a look at our TCK process again. When there is a TCK challenge that is accepted, we just say there needs to be an immediate release of the TCK along with any exclude list changes. When dropping/excluding a test, there should not be a need for a CCR as the scope of the TCK has reduced.
If a platform wants to state runtime requirements, I agree that those requirements should be validated at the platform TCK level. However, if there are standalone TCKs being run as part of the platform, at some point there is likely a change going to be needed in that standalone TCK to run on the platform runtime. At that point the requirement is going to have to be fed into the project.
After reading Ed's email to the lists about CCR requirements for 9.1, the notion of 'standalone' TCKs is a bit confusing because most of the standalone TCKs listed have their source in the CTS repository. It just happens to be packaged up for release separate from the CTS.
For truly independent TCKs that have their source separate from the CTS, if the platform runtime requirement change does not require a new release of the TCK binary, there should be no requirement for a CCR at the specification level. That would be a purely optional compatibility claim that the implementation wants to make. There should not be a requirement on the specification project team.
There will be times when the platform wants to move the base language level, potentially requiring specifications to update one or more of the API/specification/TCK. In that case specification projects that will be included would need to create a new major release. In that circumstance it is clear that one or more CCRs will be needed to validate the release.