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)
) File No. EB-03-KC-
045
Cornell College. )
Licensee of Radio Station KRNL-FM ) NAL/Acct. No.
200332560026
Mt. Vernon, Iowa )
) FRN: 0002-5905-52
NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE
Released: June 27, 2003
By the Enforcement Bureau, Kansas City Office:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Notice of Apparent Liability for
Forfeiture ("NAL"), we find Cornell College, (``Cornell''),
licensee of FM radio station KRNL-FM, Mt. Vernon, Iowa,
apparently liable for forfeiture in the amount of thirteen
thousand dollars ($13,000) for willful and repeated
violation of Section 73.1350(b)(2) of the Commission's
Rules (``Rules'') and willful violation of Section
73.3527(c) of the Rules.1 Specifically, we find Cornell
College apparently liable for failing to maintain
transmitter control and failing to make available the
station's public inspection file.
II. BACKGROUND
2. On March 18, 2003, an agent from the FCC
Enforcement Bureau's Kansas City Office conducted an
inspection of KRNL-FM. At the time of inspection, the
agent found no one at the studio. The agent asked a school
employee to contact someone responsible for the station.
Over one-half hour later, Ms. Dee Ann Rexroat, the school's
Director of College Communications, met the agent at the
studio. According to Ms. Rexroat, the station operates
twenty-four hours per day but is staffed only during the
evening hours by students who are in class during the day.
The station posts no person at the transmitter site. The
only transmitter remote control function available was an
on/off switch at the studio with no self-monitoring or
automatic transmission system monitoring equipment to
control the transmitter. Ms. Rexroat provided a copy of a
report from the station's contract engineer dated November
13, 2002, in which the engineer advised the station of the
need for transmitter remote control equipment. No public
inspection file was made available upon request during the
inspection of the station which occurred during regular
business hours.
3. On April 2, 2003, the Kansas City Office issued to
Cornell a Letter of Inquiry citing, inter alia, violations
of the transmitter control and public file rules. In its
reply dated May 1, 2003, Cornell stated that ``[d]uring
normal business hours, the station runs unattended.''
Addressing the transmitter control violation, Cornell
stated it was purchasing a remote control unit that would
monitor the transmitter parameters and notify station
personnel of out-of-tolerance conditions. Addressing the
public file violation, Cornell stated it had assembled a
complete public file and located it at the college.
III. DISCUSSION
4. Section 73.1350(b)(2) of the Rules requires a
broadcast station to provide to transmitter control
personnel the capability to turn the transmitter off at all
times or provide an alternate method of acquiring
transmitter control that can deactivate the transmitter
within three minutes. From at least November 13, 2002 to
March 18, 2003, KRNL-FM maintained no control or monitoring
of the transmitter parameters except for a remote
transmitter on/off switch located at the studio. Although
the station operated twenty-four hours per day, personnel
were available to control the transmitter only during
evening hours. The station employed no self-monitoring or
automatic transmission system. Section 73.3527(c) requires
every licensee or permittee of an FM noncommercial
educational broadcast station to make available upon
request during regular business hours the station's public
file. At the inspection during regular business hours on
March 18, 2003, station employees could not produce the
public file.
5. Based on the evidence before us, we find that
Cornell willfully2 and repeatedly3 violated Section
73.1350(b)(2) of the Rules and willfully violated Section
73.3527(c) of the Rules by failing to maintain transmitter
control and failing to make available the station's public
file.
6. Pursuant to Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules,4 the
base forfeiture amount for violation of transmitter control
and metering requirements is $3,000, and for violation of
the public file rules is $10,000. 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 factors
listed above, this case warrants a $13,000 forfeiture.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
7. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT, pursuant to
Section 503(b) of the Act6 and Sections 0.111, 0.311 and
1.80 of the Rules,7 Cornell College is hereby NOTIFIED of
its APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE in the amount of
thirteen thousand dollars ($13,000) for willful and
repeated violation of Section 73.1350(b)(2) of the Rules
and willful violation of Section 73.3527(c) of the Rules by
failing to failing to maintain transmitter control and
failing to make available the station's public file.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT, pursuant to Section
1.80 of the Rules, within thirty (30) days of the release
date of this NAL, Cornell College SHALL PAY the full amount
of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written
statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed
forfeiture.
9. 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. Request for payment of the full amount
of this NAL under an installment plan should be sent to:
Chief, Revenue and Receivable Operations Group, 445 12th
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.8
10. 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. referenced above.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a copy of this
NAL shall be sent by regular mail and Certified Mail Return
Receipt Requested to Cornell College, 810 Commons Circle,
Mt. Vernon, IA. 52314
Federal Communications
Commission
Robert C. McKinney
District Director, Kansas City
Office
Enforcement Bureau
Attachment A
_________________________
1 47 C.F.R. §§ 73.1350(b)(2) and 73.3527(c).
2 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).
3 Section 312(f)(2), which also applies to Section 503(b),
provides: [t]he 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.
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 and 1.80.
8 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.