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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
)
) File Number EB-00-AT-528
)
La Favorita, Inc. NAL/Acct. No. X3248004
)
Radio Station WAOS
)
Austell, GA
)

NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

Released: June 22,
2000

By Enforcement Bureau, Atlanta Office:

I. INTRODUCTION

1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture
("NAL"), we find that La Favorita, Inc. has apparently violated,
Sections 1.89(b) and 17.4(a) of the Commission's Rules1 for
failing to reply to a Notice of Violation and failing to register
the station's antenna structure. We conclude that La Favorita is
apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of seven
thousand dollars ($7,000).

II. BACKGROUND

2. On May 19, 1999, an Agent from the FCC Atlanta office
inspected AM Broadcast station WAOS in Austell, Georgia. The
agent observed that there was no tower registration number posted
at the tower as required by the Rules.
3. The FCC Antenna Structure Registration database was
checked on May 27, 1999 to determine if there was a record of the
WAOS tower registration. The database showed no registration
data for the tower.
4. On May 27, 1999, a Notice of Violation (``NOV'') was
mailed to La Favorita at their address of record. The NOV cited
the failure of the licensee to register the WAOS tower and
required a response within ten days. The NOV was returned by the
U.S. Post Office as ``undeliverable, no postal receptacle.''
5. On August 31, 1999, the Atlanta FCC office learned that
the licensee had a post office box address in Austell, GA in
addition to their street address. The NOV was mailed to the post
office box address, P.O. Box 746, Austell, GA, 30168. There was
no reply received from the station.
6. On December 14, 1999, an agent from the Atlanta FCC
office hand-delivered the NOV to the WAOS main studio. An
employee of the station certified by his signature that he had
received the hand delivered NOV. No reply to the hand-delivered
NOV was received from the station.
7. On March 23, 2000, the Atlanta office mailed a
certified letter warning La Favorita that a response had not yet
been received from the NOV of May 19, 1999. The warning letter
included a copy of the NOV and was sent to both the address of
record and the post office box. La Favorita received the letter
on March 27, 2000, as evidenced by a signed return receipt.
Again, no reply was received from the station.
8. On June 2, 2000, WAOS was re-inspected by an Agent of
the Atlanta FCC office. At the time of inspection there was no
Antenna Structure Registration number posted at the station's
tower. Station personnel could not produce documents that showed
that the antenna structure for WAOS had been registered. After
the inspection, the FCC Antenna Structure Registration database
was searched. There was no record that the WAOS tower had been
registered.

III. DISCUSSION

9. Section 1.89(b) of the Rules specifies that the
recipient of a Notice of Violation has ten days or the period of
time specified in the NOV to send a written response. Section
17.4(a) of the Rules requires that antenna structures that had
been assigned painting and lighting requirements prior to July 1,
1996, be registered with the Commission prior to July 1, 1998.
10. Based on the evidence before us, we find that La
Favorita willfully2 violated Sections 1.89(b) and 17.4(a) of the
Commission's Rules by failing to respond to a Notice of Violation
and failing to register the antenna structure for radio station
WAOS. The Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment
of Section 1.80 of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture
Guidelines, 12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd
303 (1999), (``Policy Statement''), sets the base forfeiture
amount for failure to reply to a Notice of Violation at four
thousand dollars ($4000) and for failure to file required forms
at three thousand dollars ($3,000).3 In assessing the monetary
forfeiture amount, we must take into account the statutory
factors set forth in Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended,4 which include the nature,
circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, and with
respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history
of prior offenses, ability to pay, and other such matters as
justice may require. Applying the Policy Statement and statutory
factors to the instant case, we believe that a seven thousand
dollar ($7,000) monetary forfeiture is warranted because the
record reveals that La Favorita has a history of not replying to
Notices of Violation and the antenna structure registration
violation was repeated.

IV. ORDERING CLAUSES

11. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section
503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended5, and
Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80 of the Commission's Rules6, La
Favorita is hereby NOTIFIED of its APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A
FORFEITURE in the amount of seven thousand dollars ($7,000) for
violating Section 1.89(b) of the Commission's Rules requiring a
written response to a Notice of Violation and Section 17.4(a) of
the Commission's Rules requiring antenna structures to be
registered with the Commission.

12. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of
the Commission's Rules7, within thirty days of the date of
release of this NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY, La Favorita SHALL
PAY the full amount of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a
written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the
proposed forfeiture.

13. Payment of the forfeiture may be made by credit card
through the Commission's Credit and Debt Management Center at
(202) 418-1995 or by mailing a check or similar instrument,
payable to the order of the Federal Communications Commission, to
the Forfeiture Collection Section, Finance Branch, Federal
Communications Commission, P.O. Box 73482, Chicago, Illinois
60673-7482. The payment should note the NAL/Acct. No. X3248004.

14. The response if any must be mailed to Federal
Communications Commission, Enforcement Bureau, Technical & Public
Safety Division, 445 12th Street S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554 and
MUST INCLUDE THE NAL/Acct. No. X3248004.

15. The Commission will not consider reducing or canceling
a forfeiture in response to a claim of inability to pay unless
the petitioner submits: (1) federal tax returns for the most
recent three-year period; (2) financial statements prepared
according to generally accepted accounting practices (``GAAP'');
or (3) some other reliable and objective documentation that
accurately reflects the petitioner's current financial status.
Any claim of inability to pay must specifically identify the
basis for the claim by reference to the financial documentation
submitted.

16. Requests for payment of the full amount of this Notice
of Apparent Liability under an installment plan should be sent
to: Chief, Credit and Debt Management Center, 445 12th Street,
S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.8

17. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this NOTICE OF
APPARENT LIABILITY shall be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt
Requested to La Favorita, Inc. at 5815 Westside Road, Austell, GA
30106 and a copy to P.O. Box 746, Austell, GA 30168-0746.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Fred L. Broce
District Director, Atlanta Office
Enforcement Bureau
_________________________

1 47 C.F.R. з 1.89(b) and 17.4(a)

2 Section 312(f)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934, as Amended
(``Act''), 47 U.S.C. з 312(f)(1), which applies to Section 503(b)
of the Act, provides that ``[t]he term `willful', when used with
reference to the commission or omission of any act, means the
conscious and deliberate commission or omission of such act,
irrespective of any intent to violate any provision of this Act
....'' See Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6 FCC Rcd 4387
(1991).

3 47 C.F.R. з 1.80.

4 47 U.S.C. з 503(b).

5 47 U.S.C. з 503(b).

6 47 C.F.R. зз 0.111, 0.311, 1.80.

7 47 C.F.R. з 1.80.

8 See 47 C.F.R. з 1.1914.