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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Faith Bible College, Inc. ) File Number EB-02-TP-221
Licensee of FM Broadcast ) NAL/Acct. No. 200232700010
Station WTGF )
Milton, Florida ) FRN: 0006-7335-47
)
NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE
Released: June 4, 2002 `
By the Enforcement Bureau, Tampa Office:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, we
find that Faith Bible College, Inc. (``Faith''), licensee of FM
broadcast station WTGF in Milton, Florida, willfully violated
Section 11.35(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') by failing
to maintain operational Emergency Alert System (``EAS'')
equipment.1 We conclude that Faith Bible College, Inc. is
apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of eight
thousand dollars ($8,000).
II. BACKGROUND
2. On March 13, 2002, an agent from the FCC Enforcement
Bureau's Tampa Field Office inspected Faith's FM broadcast
station WTGF, Milton, Florida. The inspection revealed that the
station had EAS equipment installed but the equipment was turned
off. WTGF's Chief of Operations stated that the EAS decoder had
a speaker problem and had not been operational for one week.
There were no logs available at the time of inspection that
indicated any equipment failures, that the equipment was removed
from service, or that the station ever conducted the required
weekly and monthly EAS tests.
III. DISCUSSION
3. Section 11.35(a) of the Rules sets forth that
broadcast stations are responsible for ensuring that EAS
Encoders, EAS Decoders and Attention Signal generating and
receiving equipment used as part of the EAS are installed so that
the monitoring and transmitting functions are available during
the times the stations are in operation. Additionally, entries
must be made in the broadcast station log indicating that EAS
equipment has been taken out of service for repair and reasons
why required tests were not conducted.2 On March 13, 2002, the
installed EAS equipment at WTGF was turned off and thus incapable
of operation. Also, there were no entries in the station log
indicating equipment malfunction or repair, nor reasons for
failure to conduct required EAS tests.
4. Based on the evidence before us, we find that on March
13, 2002, Faith Bible College, Inc. willfully3 violated Section
11.35(a) of the Rules by failing to maintain operational
readiness of its EAS equipment.
5. Pursuant to Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules, the base
forfeiture amount for EAS equipment not installed or operational
is $8,000.4 Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Communications Act of
1934, as amended (``Act''), requires us to take into account
``... 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.''5 Considering the
entire record and applying the statutory factors listed above,
this case warrants an $8,000 forfeiture.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section
503(b) of the Act,6 and Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80 of the
Rules,7 Faith Bible College, Inc. is hereby NOTIFIED of its
APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE in the amount of eight
thousand dollars ($8,000) for willful violation of Section
11.35(a) of the Commission's Rules.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 1.80 of
the Rules, within thirty days of the release date of this NOTICE
OF APPARENT LIABILITY, Faith Bible College, Inc. SHALL PAY the
full amount of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written
statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed
forfeiture.
8. 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 FRN and NAL/Acct. No. referenced in the letterhead above.
9. The response, if any, must be mailed to Federal
Communications Commission, Office of the Secretary, 445 12th
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554, Attn: Enforcement Bureau-
Technical & Public Safety Division, and MUST INCLUDE THE
NAL/Acct. No. and FRN referenced in the letterhead above.
10. 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.
11. Requests for payment of the full amount of this Notice
of Apparent Liability under an installment plan should be sent
to: Federal Communications Commission, Chief, Revenue and
Receivables Operations Group, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington,
D.C. 20554.8
12. IT IS
FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY
shall be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to Faith
Bible College, Inc., 1207 Hamilton Bridge Road, Milton, FL 32570.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Ralph M. Barlow
District Director, Tampa Office
Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 47 C.F.R. §§ 11.35(a), 17.4(a)
2 47 C.F.R. § 11.35(a)-(b)
3 Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(1), which
applies equally 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).
4 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(b)(4)
5 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D)
6 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).
7 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311, 1.80.
8 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.