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                           Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, D.C. 20554


CERTIFIED MAIL #7001 0320 0002 9838 7554
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED


Ho'ona'auao Community Television, Inc.  )         File Number EB-
02-HL-074
Licensee of Station KWBN-TV     )       NAL/Acct.             No. 
200232860003
Honolulu, Hawaii                )       FRN 0004-0750-57


           NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

                                          Released: September 27, 
                                                             2002

By the Enforcement Bureau, Honolulu Resident Agent Office:

                        I.  INTRODUCTION

     1.   In this  Notice of  Apparent Liability  for  Forfeiture 
("NAL"), we  find that  Ho'ona'auao Community  Television,  Inc., 
(``Ho'ona'auao''), licensee of television broadcast station  KWBN 
in Honolulu,  Hawaii,  has apparently  willfully  and  repeatedly 
violated Section 11.61(a)(1)(v) of the FCC Rules and  Regulations 
(``Rules''),1 by failing to retransmit the Emergency Alert System 
(``EAS'') required monthly test (``RMT'').  We conclude, pursuant 
to Section 503(b) of the  Communications Act of 1934, as  amended 
(``Act''),2  that  Ho'ona'auao   is  apparently   liable  for   a 
forfeiture in the amount of four thousand dollars ($4,000).

                         II.  BACKGROUND

     2.   On July  1, 2002,  Agent Raymond  of the  FCC  Honolulu 
Resident Agent  Office  monitored  television  broadcast  station 
KWBN, channel  44,  from 11:15  a.m.  HST until  1:15  p.m.  HST.  
During this period, KWBN did not retransmit the EAS RMT initiated 
by Hawaii State Civil Defense at approximately 11:15 a.m. HST.

     3.   On August 1,  2002, Agent Raymond  of the FCC  Honolulu 
Resident Agent  Office  monitored  television  broadcast  station 
KWBN, channel  44, from  11:10  a.m. HST  until 12:37  p.m.  HST.  
During this period, KWBN did not retransmit the EAS RMT initiated 
by Hawaii State Civil Defense at approximately 11:15 a.m. HST.

     4.   On August 2, 2002, Agents  Raymond and Hagihara of  the 
FCC Honolulu Resident  Agent Office inspected  the EAS  equipment 
installed at  the  KWBN  studio  at  875  Waimanu  Street,  #632, 
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.   The EAS receipts  generated by the  EAS 
Encoder/Decoder show that the EAS RMT's were not retransmitted on 
either July 1, 2002 or August 1, 2002.  No log entries existed in 
any station log  explaining why  no RMT's  were retransmitted  in 
July or August, 2002. 
     5.   On  September  3,  2002,  Agent  Hagihara  of  the  FCC 
Honolulu Resident  Agent  Office monitored  television  broadcast 
station KWBN, channel 44,  from 11:10 a.m.  HST until 12:30  p.m. 
HST.  During this  period, KWBN  did not retransmit  the EAS  RMT 
initiated by Hawaii  State Civil Defense  at approximately  11:15 
a.m. HST.

                        III.  DISCUSSION

     6.   Section 503(b) of the Act provides that any person  who 
willfully or repeatedly  fails to comply  substantially with  the 
terms and conditions of any  license, or willfully or  repeatedly 
fails to comply with any of the  provisions of the Act or of  any 
rule, regulation or  order issued by  the Commission  thereunder, 
shall be liable for a  forfeiture penalty.  The term  ``willful'' 
as used in  Section 503(b)  has been interpreted  to mean  simply 
that the acts  or omissions are  committed knowingly.3  The  term 
``repeated'' means the  commission or omission  of such act  more 
than once or for more than one day.4

     7.   The Rules provide  that every TV  broadcast station  is 
part of  the  nationwide EAS  network  and is  categorized  as  a 
participating   national   EAS   source   unless   the    station 
affirmatively requests authority  to not  participate.5  The  EAS 
provides the President and state  and local governments with  the 
capability to provide immediate and emergency communications  and 
information to the general public.6   State and local area  plans 
identify  local  primary  sources  responsible  for  coordinating 
carriage of common  emergency messages from  sources such as  the 
National  Weather   Service   or   local   emergency   management 
officials.7 
     8.   The Rules require all broadcast stations to ensure that 
EAS encoders, EAS  decoders and attention  signal generating  and 
receiving equipment  is  installed  so that  the  monitoring  and 
transmitting functions are available during the times the station 
is  in   operation.8   Section   11.61(a)(1)(v)  of   the   Rules 
specifically requires that monthly tests be retransmitted  within 
60 minutes of receipt by broadcast stations in an EAS Local  Area 
or State.9  Based on the evidence before us, we find that on July 
1, 2002,  August  1, 2002,  and  September 1,  2002,  Ho'ona'auao 
willfully and repeatedly violated  Section 11.61(a)(1)(v) of  the 
Rules by failing to retransmit the EAS RMT.

     9.   Pursuant  to   The   Commission's   Forfeiture   Policy 
Statement  and  Amendment  of  Section  1.80  of  the  Rules   to 
Incorporate  the  Forfeiture   Guidelines  (``Forfeiture   Policy 
Statement''),10 the base  forfeiture amount for  failure to  have 
EAS equipment installed or operational is $8,000.  The Forfeiture 
Policy Statement does not establish a base forfeiture amount  for 
violating the Commission's  rule requiring timely  retransmission 
of the monthly EAS  tests.  Therefore we  must determine what  an 
appropriate  amount  should   be  for   this  violation.11    The 
Commission requires periodic tests of EAS equipment to ensure the 
operational integrity of the EAS system in the event of an actual 
emergency.  The requirement that stations retransmit the  monthly 
EAS tests  is  similar  in  both nature  and  severity  to  other 
required  operational  readiness  checks.   As  failure  to  make 
measurements  or  conduct  required  monitoring  carries  a  base 
forfeiture amount of  $2,000, pursuant to  the Forfeiture  Policy 
Statement, the base forfeiture  amount for failure to  retransmit 
EAS tests is set at $2,000.
     10.  In assessing the  monetary forfeiture  amount, we  must 
also take into account the statutory factors set forth in Section 
503(b)(2)(D) of the Act, which include the nature, circumstances, 
extent, and gravity of the violation(s), and with respect to  the 
violator,  the  degree  of  culpability,  and  history  of  prior 
offenses, ability to pay, and  other such matters as justice  may 
require.12  Ho'ona'auao has a  history of prior offenses,  having 
been issued two Notices of  Violation for EAS related matters  in 
200113.  In addition,  Ho'ona'auao has failed  to retransmit  the 
monthly EAS  tests  for three  months  in a  row.   Applying  the 
Forfeiture Policy  Statement and  the  statutory factors  to  the 
instant case, a forfeiture amount of $4,000 is warranted.14 
                       IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

     11.  Accordingly, IT IS  ORDERED THAT,  pursuant to  Section 
503(b) of  the  Communications  Act  of  1934,  as  amended,  and 
Sections  0.111,  0.311  and  1.80  of  the  Commission's  Rules, 
Ho'ona'auao Community Television, Inc., is hereby NOTIFIED of  an 
APPARENT LIABILITY  FOR  A  FORFEITURE  in  the  amount  of  four 
thousand dollars ($4,000) for violating Section 11.61(a)(1)(v) of 
the Rules.15

     12.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of 
the Commission's Rules, within thirty days of the release date of 
this  NOTICE   OF  APPARENT   LIABILITY,  Ho'ona'auao   Community 
Television, Inc  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  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 must  include 
the  FCC  Registration  Number  0004-0750-57  and  NAL/Acct.  No. 
200232860003.

     14.  The  response,  if  any,  must  be  mailed  to  Federal 
Communications  Commission,  Enforcement  Bureau,  Technical  and 
Public Safety  Division, 445  12th Street,  S.W., Washington,  DC 
20554, and must include NAL/Acct. No. 200232860003.  
     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,  Revenue and  Receivables Operations  Group, 445  12th 
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.16 

     17.  IT IS FURTHER  ORDERED THAT  a copy of  this NOTICE  OF 
APPARENT LIABILITY shall be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt 
Requested to Ho'ona'auao Community  Television, Inc, 875  Waimanu 
Street, Suite 632, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.


                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                         

                              John R. Raymond
                              Honolulu Resident Agent
_________________________

1  47 C.F.R. 11.61(a)(1)(v).

2  47 U.S.C. § 503(b).

3  Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(1), which 
applies to violations for which forfeitures are assessed under 
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).

4  Section 312(f)(2) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(2), which 
also applies to violations for which forfeitures are assessed 
under Section 503(b) of the Act, provides that "[t]he term 
'repeated', when used with reference to the commission or 
omission of any act, means the commission or omission of such act 
more than once or, if such commission or omission is continuous, 
for more than one day.''

5  47 C.F.R. §§ 11.11 and 11.41.

6  47 C.F.R. §§ 11.1 and 11.21.

7  47 C.F.R. § 11.18. State EAS plans contain guidelines that 
must be followed by broadcast and cable personnel, emergency 
officials and National Weather Service personnel to activate the 
EAS for state and local emergency alerts.  The state plans 
include the EAS header codes and messages to be transmitted by 
the primary state, local and relay EAS sources.

8  47 C.F.R. § 11.35.

9  47 C.F.R. § 11.61.  The required monthly and weekly tests are 
required to conform with the procedures in the EAS Operational 
Handbook.  See also, Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission's 
Rules Regarding the Emergency Alert System, EB Docket No. 01-66, 
Report and Order, FCC 02-64 (Feb. 26, 2002); 67 Fed. Reg. 18502  
(April 16, 2002).

10  12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied 15 FCC Rcd 303 (1999).

11  The fact that the Forfeiture Policy Statement does not 
specify a base amount does not indicate that no forfeiture should 
be imposed.  The Forfeiture Policy Statement states that ``any 
omission of a specific rule violation from the... [Forfeiture 
Policy Statement]...should not signal that the Commission 
considers any unlisted violation as nonexistent or unimportant.'' 
Forfeiture Policy Statement, 12 FCC Rcd at 17,099.  See e.g., 
American Tower Corporation, 16 FCC Rcd 1282 (2001).

12  47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).

13 Notices of Violation were isssued to Ho'ona'auao on February 
6, 2001 for failure to retransmit the EAS RMT in violation of 47 
C.F.R. § 11.61(a)(1)(v), and again on March 6, 2001 for failure 
to transmit a visual message of the EAS RMT in violation of 47 
C.F. R. § 11.51(d). 

14  12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303 
(1999).

15 47 U.S.C. § 503(b); 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311, 1.80, 
11.61(a)(1)(v).

16 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914