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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
New Life Evangelistic Center, ) File Number EB-02-KC-400
Inc. )
) NAL/Acct.
Licensee of FM Broadcast Station ) No.200232560014
KBIY in Van Buren, Missouri )
FRN 0003-2285-90
St. Louis, Missouri
NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE
Released: July 11,
2002
By the Enforcement Bureau, Kansas City Office:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for
Forfeiture, we find that New Life Evangelistic Center, Inc.,
licensee of FM broadcast station KBIY in Van Buren,
Missouri, willfully and repeatedly violated Sections 73.1125
and 73.3527 of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'')1 by
operating KBIY without a main studio, by failing to make the
public file available to the public during regular business
hours and failing to retain all required materials in the
public file. We conclude that New Life Evangelistic Center,
Inc. is apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of
ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
II BACKGROUND
2. On May 30, 2002, an agent of the FCC Enforcement
Bureau's Kansas City Field Office (``Kansas City Office'')
inspected FM radio station KBIY licensed to Van Buren,
Missouri. The agent found no listing for the station in the
local telephone directory. The agent went to the KBIY
transmitter site and found a sign with a phone number
provided ``in case of emergency.'' The agent called this
number and spoke with Mr. Ralph Case, manager of the
station. Mr. Case stated the main studio for KBIY was in
the process of being constructed at 128 Skyline Drive in Van
Buren. The agent met Mr. Case at the studio under
construction on Skyline Drive and saw that no studio was in
operation and there was no capability to originate
programming. Mr. Case stated that the station had been on
the air since June 26, 2001, and had no main studio during
that time. Mr. Case accompanied the agent back to the
transmitter site to locate the public file. At the
transmitter site, there was no public file available, nor
was any staff present. Mr. Case then accompanied the agent
to the ``Free Store'' in Van Buren, Missouri, a facility
operated by New Life Evangelistic Center. The agent and Mr.
Case arrived at the ``Free Store'' during the early
afternoon and found the facility closed. The store had no
studio or any capability to originate programming for
station KBIY. Mr. Case did locate the public file at the
facility. The public file was missing two required
documents: the quarterly issues-programs list, and a copy
of ``The Public and Broadcasting.''
III DISCUSSION
3. Section 73.1125 of the Rules states that each
broadcast station shall maintain a main studio at one of the
following locations: (1) Within the station's community of
license; (2) At any location within the principal community
contour of any AM, FM, or TV broadcast station licensed to
the station's community of license; or (3) Within twenty-
five miles from the reference coordinates of the center of
its community of license. As of May 31, 2002, New Life
Evangelistic Center, Inc. failed to establish a main studio
for station KBIY which had been on the air since June 26,
2001.
4. Section 73.3527(c) of the Rules requires the
public file to be available for public inspection at any
time during regular business hours. Inspection of the
public file was made at the ``Free Store,'' operated by New
Life Evangelistic Center, Inc. The Free Store was closed
when the agent arrived in the early afternoon on May 31,
2002. Section 73.3527(e)(7) of the Rules requires at all
times a current version of the manual entitled ``The Public
and Broadcasting'' be located in the public file. Section
73.3527(e)(8) of the Rules requires a list of programs that
have provided the station's most significant treatment of
community issues during the preceding three month period.
The list shall include a brief narrative describing what
issues were giving significant treatment and the programming
that provided this treatment. The description of the
programs shall include, but shall not be limited to, the
time, date, duration and title of each program in which the
issue was treated. The lists shall be retained in the
public inspection file until final action has been taken on
the station's next renewal application. At the time of
inspection on May 31, 2002, there were no issues-programs
lists or a copy of ``The Public and Broadcasting'' in the
public file.
5. Based on the evidence before us, we find that New
Life Evangelistic Center, Inc. willfully2 and repeatedly3
violated Section 73.1125 of the Rules by failing to maintain
a main studio for KBIY and Section 73.3527 of the Rules by
failing to make available the public file during regular
business hours and failing to retain required materials in
the public file. Pursuant to Section 1.80(b)(4) of the
Rules, the base forfeiture amount for violation of the main
studio rule is $7,000 and violations of the public file
rules is $10,000.4 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 The fact that New Life Evangelistic
Center, Inc. maintained a partial public file, albeit
missing two required items and not accessible on the day of
inspection, warrants a downward adjustment of the $10,000
base forfeiture amount for that violation to $3,000.
Considering the entire record and applying the statutory
factors listed above, this case warrants a $10,000
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 Commission's Rules,7 New Life Evangelistic
Center, Inc. is hereby NOTIFIED of its APPARENT LIABILITY
FOR A FORFEITURE in the amount of ten thousand dollars
($10,000) for willfully and repeatedly violating Sections
73.1125 and 73.3527 of the Rules.
7. 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, New Life
Evangelistic Center, 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 FCC Registration Number (FRN)
and the 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, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554, ATTN: Enforcement
Bureau - Technical & Public Safety Division, and MUST
INCLUDE the FRN and the NAL/Acct. No. 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 Operation 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 regular mail and
Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to New Life
Evangelistic Center, Inc. at 1411 Locust Street, St. Louis,
Missouri 63103.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Robert C. McKinney
District Director
Kansas City Office
_________________________
1 47 C.F.R. §§ 73.1125 and 73.3527.
2 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).
3 The 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.'' 47
U.S.C. § 312(f)(2).
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.