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



In the Matter of                 )                 File       No. 
                                 EB-02-AT-315
Fayette County Broadcasting      )
Licensee of Station WSTN(AM)     )           NAL/Acct. No. 
(Somerville, Tennessee)          200332480003
West Helena, Arkansas            )    
                                 )    FRN 0005-0323-70
                                 )      
                                 ) 


              NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

                                             Released:  November 5, 
                                             2002 

By the District Director, Atlanta Office:


                         I.  INTRODUCTION

     1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL"), 
we find Fayette County Broadcasting, licensee of station WSTN(AM), 
Somerville, Tennessee, apparently liable for a forfeiture in the 
amount of eight thousand dollars ($8,000) for willful and repeated 
violation of Section 11.35(a) of the Commission's Rules (?Rules?).1  
Specifically, we find Fayette County Broadcasting apparently liable 
for failure to have operational Emergency Alert System (?EAS?) equipment 
installed at its station.

                         II.  BACKGROUND

     2. On August 6, 2002, an agent of the FCC Enforcement Bureau's 
Atlanta Office (?Atlanta Office?) inspected radio station WSTN(AM), 
Somerville, Tennessee.  The agent found the EAS equipment installed in 
a rack but not connected to audio and power sources.  EAS logs could 
not be produced to indicate EAS test activations had been sent or 
received, or that EAS equipment had been removed from service.

     3. During a telephone interview on September 10, 2002, the 
station owner stated that the EAS equipment was disconnected around 
May 2002, in order to add new satellite services and was apparently 
not reconnected.

     4. On October 2, 2002, the station owner faxed a letter to the 
Atlanta Office confirming that the EAS equipment was removed for 
service in May 2002 and returned to the station in July 2002.  He 
further stated that the EAS equipment was not reconnected until two 
days following the FCC inspection on August 6, 2002 and that all 
station personnel had been retrained to manually write/log each and 
every EAS test.   





                         III.  DISCUSSION
   
     5. Section 11.35(a) of the Rules states 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 
and systems are in operation."  From approximately May, 2002, until 
August 8, 2002, Fayette County Broadcasting did not have installed at 
their station properly operating EAS equipment.  

     6. Based on the evidence before us, we find that Fayette County 
Broadcasting willfully2 and repeatedly3 violated Section 11.35(a) of 
the Rules by failing to have operational EAS equipment installed so 
that the monitoring and transmitting functions were available.

     7.   Pursuant  to Section  1.80(b)(4)  of  the Rules,4  the  base 
forfeiture amount for failing to  install EAS equipment is $8,000.  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 
Communications  Act  of 1934,  as  amended  (?Act?), 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.5  Considering  the entire  record and applying  the statutory 
factors listed above, this case warrants an $8,000 forfeiture.
  
                      IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

     8. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section 503(b) of 
        the Communications Act
of 1934, as amended,6and Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80 of the Rules,7 
Fayette County Broadcasting is hereby NOTIFIED of an APPARENT 
LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE in the amount of eight thousand dollars 
($8,000) for willful and repeated violation of Section 11.35(a) of the 
Rules. 

     9. 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, Fayette 
County Broadcasting SHALL PAY the full amount of the proposed 
forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement seeking reduction or 
cancellation of the proposed forfeiture.

     10.  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 should note 
the Nal/Acct. No. and FRN referenced above.  Requests for payment of 
the full amount of this NAL under an instrument plan should be sent to 
Chief, Revenue and Receivables Operations Group, 445 12th Street S.W., 
Washington, DC 20554.8

     11.   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 NAL/Acct. No. referenced above.  

     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 ("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.  

     13.  Under the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Pub 
L. No. 107-198, 116 Stat. 729
(June 28, 2002), the FCC is engaged in a two-year tracking process 
regarding the size of entities involved in forfeitures.  If you 
qualify as a small entity and if you wish to be treated as a small 
entity for tracking purposes, please so certify to us within thirty 
(30) days of this NAL, either in your response to the NAL or in a 
separate filing to be sent to the Technical & Public Safety Division.  
Your certification should indicate whether you, including your parent 
entity and its subsidiaries, meet one of the definitions set forth in 
the list provided by the FCC's Office of Communications Business 
Opportunities (OCBO) set forth in Attachment A of this Notice of 
Apparent Liability.  This information will be used for tracking 
purposes only.  Your response or failure to respond to this question 
will have no effect on your rights and responsibilities pursuant to 
Section 503(b) of the Communications Act.  If you have questions 
regarding any of the information contained in Attachment A, please 
contact OCBO at (202) 418-0990.

     14.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this NAL shall be sent 
by regular mail and Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested, to 
Fayette County Broadcasting, 798 N. Sebastian, West Helena, Arkansas 
72390.

                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                              Fred L. Broce
                              District Director, Atlanta Office


Attachment.
_________________________

1 47 C.F.R. § 11.35(a).

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.

5 U.S.C. §  503(b)2)(D).

6 U.S.C. §  503(b).

7 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311, 1.80.



8  See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.