diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.txt b/RELEASE_NOTES.txt
index e9a20a590..c88e22a94 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.txt
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,28 @@
+Rat 0.15
+========
+This release fixes a warning during site builds and updates various dependencies.
+
+Fixed Bugs:
+o RAT-309:  Site builds could not be generated properly due to API changes: solution was to upgrade Maven Reporting API to 3.1.1 and use details of Maven Reporting Implementation 3.2.0 in RAT's Mojo hierarchy. Thanks to Michael Osipov, Gary Gregory.
+o RAT-309:  Updated internal data structures from deprecated ArrayStack to JDK's ArrayDeque.
+o RAT-306:  Add note about hierarchy of changelogs in RAT project structure when publishing the project webpage.
+o RAT-307:  Update to focal (Ubuntu 20.04) on Travis to circumvent build errors and be able to use more modern JDK versions. Deprecate openJDK8 build with focal as it is not supported on Travis.
+
+Changes:
+o RAT-305:  Update maven-project-info-reports-plugin from 3.3.0 to 3.4.1. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update maven-javadoc-plugin from 3.4.0 to 3.4.1. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update maven-jxr-plugin from 3.2.0 to 3.3.0. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update animal-sniffer-maven-plugin from 1.21 to 1.22. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update maven-site-plugin from 3.12.0 to 3.12.1. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update maven-pmd-plugin from 3.16.0 to 3.18.0. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update mockito-core from 4.6.0 to 4.7.0. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update extra-enforcer-rules from 1.5.1 to 1.6.1. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update Apache parent pom from 26 to 27. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update wagon-ssh from 3.5.1 to 3.5.2. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update maven-enforcer-plugin from 3.0.0 to 3.1.0. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-305:  Update actions/setup-java from 3.3.0 to 3.4.1. Thanks to dependabot.
+o RAT-310:  Fix deprecation warnings in tests. Use hamcrest's annotations instead of ones from JUnit.
+
 Rat 0.14
 ========
 This release contains dependency updates, bugfixes and many improvements apart from infrastructure updates at ASF.
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index d6b453e58..6245d9664 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ agnostic home for software distribution comprehension and audit tools.
     <mavenJavadocPluginVersion>3.4.1</mavenJavadocPluginVersion>
     <mavenPmdPluginVersion>3.18.0</mavenPmdPluginVersion>
     <!-- Used to generate download page for RAT during site builds, please adapt versions manually BEFORE doing a release -->
-    <previousRatVersion>0.15</previousRatVersion>
-    <currentSnapshotRatVersion>0.16-SNAPSHOT</currentSnapshotRatVersion>
+    <previousRatVersion>0.16</previousRatVersion>
+    <currentSnapshotRatVersion>0.17-SNAPSHOT</currentSnapshotRatVersion>
   </properties>
   <distributionManagement>
     <site>
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ agnostic home for software distribution comprehension and audit tools.
         <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
         <artifactId>apache-rat-plugin</artifactId>
         <!-- Do not use property values here as this causes problems during release -->
-        <version>0.14</version>
+        <version>0.15</version>
       </plugin>
     </plugins>
   </reporting>
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ agnostic home for software distribution comprehension and audit tools.
           <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
           <artifactId>apache-rat-plugin</artifactId>
           <!-- Do not use property values here as this causes problems during release -->
-          <version>0.14</version>
+          <version>0.15</version>
           <configuration>
             <excludes>
               <!-- This file only describes how to build the project and it has no license header -->
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ agnostic home for software distribution comprehension and audit tools.
                     <artifactId>
         							apache-rat-plugin
         						</artifactId>
-                    <versionRange>[0.14,)</versionRange>
+                    <versionRange>[0.15,)</versionRange>
                     <goals>
                       <goal>check</goal>
                     </goals>
@@ -697,11 +697,11 @@ agnostic home for software distribution comprehension and audit tools.
       </build>
     </profile>
   </profiles>
-    <!-- in order to test new releases this reference can be activated locally
+    <!-- in order to test new releases this reference can be activated locally-->
     <pluginRepositories>
       <pluginRepository>
-        <id>staged-releases-rat-014</id>
-        <url>https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/orgapachecreadur-1007/</url>
+        <id>staged-releases-rat-015</id>
+        <url>https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/orgapachecreadur-1008/</url>
       </pluginRepository>
-    </pluginRepositories-->
+    </pluginRepositories>
 </project>
diff --git a/src/changes/changes.xml b/src/changes/changes.xml
index acc3b06ab..e05c0db0b 100644
--- a/src/changes/changes.xml
+++ b/src/changes/changes.xml
@@ -53,11 +53,17 @@ The <action> type attribute can be add,update,fix,remove.
   </properties>
 
   <body>
-    <!--release version="0.16-SNAPSHOT" date="xxxx-yy-zz" description="Current SNAPSHOT - release to be done">
-      <action issue="RAT-3xx" type="update" dev="pottlinger" due-to="dependabot">
-        TODO: collect all dependabot updates for release 0.16.
+    <!--release version="0.17-SNAPSHOT" date="xxxx-yy-zz" description="Current SNAPSHOT - release to be done">
+      <action issue="RAT-xxx" type="update" dev="pottlinger" due-to="dependabot">
+        TODO: collect all dependabot updates for release 0.17.
       </action>
+    </release>
     -->
+    <release version="0.16-SNAPSHOT" date="xxxx-yy-zz" description="Current SNAPSHOT - release to be done">
+      <action issue="RAT-311" type="update" dev="pottlinger" due-to="dependabot">
+        TODO: collect all dependabot updates for release 0.16.
+      </action>
+    </release>
     <release version="0.15" date="2022-08-31" description="This release fixes a warning during site builds and updates various dependencies.">
       <action issue="RAT-305" type="update" dev="pottlinger" due-to="dependabot">
         Update maven-project-info-reports-plugin from 3.3.0 to 3.4.1.