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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.