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Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
Radio Station KDAP Douglas, AZ )
KASA Radio Hogar, Inc. ) NAL/Acct
No. 200132940002
1445 West Baseline Rd. )
Case No. EB-00-SD-295
Phoenix, AZ 85041 )
NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE
Adopted: February 15, 2001 Released: February
15, 2001
By the Enforcement Bureau: San Diego Office
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for
Forfeiture ("NAL"), we find KASA Radio Hogar, Inc.
(Hogar) has apparently violated Sections 73.54(d),
73.1350(c)(1), 73.1590(a)(6) and 73.3526(a)(2) of the
Commission's Rules and Regulations (Rules), by failure to
provide a copy of the station's antenna resistance and
reactance measurements during an inspection, failure to
have the proper monitoring equipment installed at the
duty operator position, failure to conduct annual
equipment performance measurements and failure to
maintain a Public Inspection File1. We conclude that
Hogar is apparently liable for forfeiture in the amount
of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
II. BACKGROUND
2. On November 6, 2000, the FCC's San Diego office
received information from FCC's Columbia Operations
Center in Laurel, MD that the carrier frequency
measurement of the AM Broadcast radio station KDAP
Douglas, AZ exceeded the frequency tolerance in violation
of Section 73.44(b) of the Rules. The measurement was
made using the remote monitoring equipment located at the
FCC's Douglas, AZ Monitoring Facility.
3. On November 17, 2000 an agent from the FCC's San
Diego office investigated the alleged violation by
conducting an inspection of KDAP's studio and transmitter
located at 2031 N. Sulphur Springs St., Douglas, AZ.
During the inspection of KDAP several violations of Rules
were discovered. Most were minor and technical in
nature. However, the four listed above were the most
serious.
4. On December 19, 2000 a violation notice was issued
to Hogar listing ten violations found during the inspection
of KDAP. On January 26, 2001 a fax from the Hogar's
Washington D.C. law firm was received by this office in
reply to the violation notice.
III. DISCUSSION
5. The reply states that Hogar has either corrected
or is working to correct these violations. However, there
was no adequate explanation why the four violations cited
may have occurred. These are serious infractions that merit
more than a simple citation letter and a reply that all has
been corrected.
6. A licensee of an AM Broadcast station must keep on
file at the station location the data gathered from the
measurements of the station's antenna system as required by
Section 73.54(d) of the Rules. This information is essential
in determining the station's transmitter output power. The
reply to our violation notice from Hogar does not indicate
where such measurements are maintained or if such
measurements were ever conducted. A monetary forfeiture of
one thousand dollars ($1000) is proposed for this violation.
7. Licensees of all broadcast stations are
responsible for maintaining and controlling their station's
operating parameters such as output power and the level of
modulation as required by Section 73.1350(c)(1) of the
Rules. The FCC allows licensees great flexibility in
designing and constructing necessary equipment and circuitry
to control their station's operating parameters. In this
case, Hogar did not provide any means for the station's duty
operator to monitor or control these two basic operating
parameters from the main duty position. The reply from
Hogar again does not address the reasons why such a
violation occurred, only that the violation will be
corrected. A monetary forfeiture of three thousand dollars
($3000) is proposed for this violation.
8. An AM Broadcast licensee must conduct equipment
performance measurements annually to determine if their
station is generating spurious signals beyond what is
permitted under Section 73.44 of the Rules 2, as required by
Section 73.1590(a)(6) of the Rules. During the inspection no
copies of previous equipment performance measurements were
available or any evidence that any had been performed.
Further, the reply from Hogar does not explain why such
measurements were not available. A monetary forfeiture of
one thousand dollars ($1000) is proposed for this violation.
9. The inspection of KDAP revealed no public
inspection file at the main studio location. Hogar was in
violation of Section 73.3526(a)(2) of the Rules which in
part states that `` Every permittee or licensee of an AM,
FM, or TV station in the commercial broadcast services shall
maintain a public inspection file containing the material,
relating to that station, described in... this section.
.... A separate file shall be maintained for each station
for which an authorization is outstanding, and the file
shall be maintained so long as an authorization to operate
the station is outstanding.'' Based on the evidence before
us, we find that Hogar has willfully3 violated Section
73.3526(a)(2) of the Rules by not maintaining a public
inspection file. A monetary forfeiture of ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) is proposed for this violation.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
10. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to
Section 503(b) of the Act,4 and Sections 0.111, 0.311 and
1.80 of the Commission's Rules,5 KASA Radio Hogar, Inc. is
hereby NOTIFIED of their APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE
in the amount of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for
violating Sections 73.54(d), 73.1350(c)(1), 73.1590(a)(6)
and 73.3526(a)(2) of the Commission's Rules and Regulations.
11. 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, KASA Radio Hogar, Inc.
SHALL PAY the full amount of the proposed forfeiture or
SHALL FILE a written statement seeking reduction or
cancellation of the proposed forfeiture. 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, Ref: EB-00-SD-
295, NAL/Acct. No. 200132940002.
12. 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; 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.
13. 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. 20554.6
14. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT this Notice shall be
sent, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to KASA
Radio Hogar, Inc., 1445 West Baseline Rd., Phoenix, AZ
85041.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
William R. Zears Jr.
District Director - San Diego
Office
_________________________
1 47 C.F.R. §§ 73.54(d), 73.1350(c)(1), 73.1590(a)(6) and
73.3526(a)(2)
2 47 C.F.R. § 73.44,
3 Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 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).
4 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).
5 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311, 1.80.
6 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.