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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
) File No. EB-03-CF-334
)
JMK Communications, Inc. ) NAL/Acct. No.
200432340004
WPWC )
Dumfries-Triangle, VA ) FRN: 0006-1615-09
NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE
Released: March 4,
2004
By the District Director, Columbia Office, Enforcement Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Notice of
Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL"), we find that JMK
Communications, Inc. (``JMK'') has apparently violated
Sections 11.35(a), 73.1745(a), 73.3526(e)(5) and
73.3526(e)(12) of the Commission's Rules1 (``Rules'') by
failing to insure that EAS monitoring and transmitting
functions are available and operational during the times the
station is in operation, operating with unauthorized times and
modes, and failing to place the most current ownership report,
written comments and suggestions from the public and a list of
programs that have provided the station's most significant
treatment of community issues in the public inspection file.
We conclude that JMK is apparently liable for forfeiture in
the amount of twenty two thousand dollars ($22,000).
II. BACKGROUND
2. On July 1, 2003, an agent from
the Commission's Columbia Maryland office attempted an
inspection of station WPWC, Dumfries-Triangle, Virginia for
compliance with FCC Rules. The agent went to 7601 Little
River Turnpike, Annandale, VA. The agent was told by JMK
personnel that the main studio for WPWC was not at this
location, that there was no programming capability for WPWC at
this location and that no one at this location had anything to
do with WPWC. However, the agent was provided an incomplete
public file for station WPWC by the JMK personnel. The agent
observed a ``quarterly issues, 2002, 2003'' sheet which merely
indicates that ``5 ea. 60 sec. Spots daily'' aired during the
1st quarter. It was unclear if these ``spots'' aired during
2002 or 2003, and the time of day was for the programming was
not specified. The agent noted a similar entry for the second,
third and fourth quarters. Again, the times that such
``spots'' aired were not shown and the year was unclear.
Further, the public file did not include copies of the
current, most recent ownership reports. The agent was unable
to meet with other JMK who could help him complete an
inspection. He made arrangements to continue the inspection
the next day.
3. On July 2, 2003, the agent met
the chief operator at the station transmitter location in
Dumfries-Triangle, Virginia to complete the inspection. The
agent found station logs, including transmitter, antenna
system operating parameters and EAS test records. The agent
found that the EAS receiver was not tuned to the proper
station, WJZW, and reception of second station, WGMS, was very
noisy. The agent noted that the EAS equipment was installed
at the station's unattended transmitter, and noted its
monitoring and transmitting functions were not available to
the station's operators at either the main studio or the
Woodbridge, VA studio. The chief operator confirmed that the
control functions were only available at the station's
transmitter. Further, the chief operator confirmed that the
main studio is at 7601 Little River Turnpike in Annandale and
indicated that a secondary studio is located at 14416
Jefferson Davis Highway in Woodbridge, VA.
4. On July 2, 2003, the agent
visited WPWC's secondary studio in Woodbridge, VA. The agent
was provided a public file issues/ programs list which
consisted of a single sheet with only ``Quarterly Issues: 2003
1st quarter: Drunk Driving Awareness 3 hrs.'' written on it.
That document did not show the dates, times, duration and
title of the program addressing the issue. Lists for other
quarters were not provided. During the inspection, the agent
requested and was provided copies of the transmitter operating
logs.
5. On August 7, 2003, the Columbia
Office issued a Letter of Inquiry to JMK in order to clarify
questionable details of operations at WPWC. In response to
that letter, JMK cleared up the confusion about the location
of the main studio and associated staff and records,
indicating that the main studio is at the Annandale address.
Concerning the public file issues/programs list, JMK confirmed
the inspecting agent's finding stating; ``we have not
maintained a complete formal listing, as contemplated by FCC
Rules, of the specific issues addressed in this program...''
6. Further, JMK points out in their
response to the letter of inquiry that the Annandale studio
includes staff of station WTRI licensed to Brunswick,
Maryland. JMK was previously cited for violation of Section
73.3526(e)(12) at WTRI, Brunswick, Maryland in a Notice of
Violation issued December 16, 2002. Additionally, JMK points
out that their logs accurately reflect the station operation.
7. The agent reviewed WPWC station
logs provided to him at the inspection for the period April 1,
2003 through July 2, 2003. The agent found that, according to
the station logs, WPWC operated with its daytime power and
antenna during nighttime hours. The daytime authorized power
is 1080 watts while nighttime is 540 watts. The daytime
antenna parameters are different from the nighttime
parameters. The logs show that the station changed to its
night power and antenna at 8:30 PM EST instead of the
authorized 7:15 PM EDT (8:15 EST) on May 4, 2003 and May 8
through May 19, 2003.
8. On 8/13/2003 and 8/20/2003, the
agent inspected radio stations WJZW and WGMS, respectively.
He reviewed their EAS logs noting the times that these
stations transmitted EAS tests and alerts that WPWC should
have received. He reviewed WPWC logs and compared. He found
that for the period May 7, 2003 through July 2, 2003, WPWC
logs had missing and inaccurate received EAS test times. The
agent found no entries in the station log indicating that the
EAS equipment had malfunctioned.
III. DISCUSSION
9. Section 11.35(a) of the Rules
requires 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 station and systems are in
operation. The EAS equipment was improperly tuned on July 2,
2003 and the monitoring and transmitting functions were not
available to the station operators at their normal duty
position. Further, log entries, compared to EAS logs of the
two sending stations, show that JMK's EAS equipment failed on
or about May 6, 2003 and continued until the FCC inspection on
July 2, 2003.
10. Section 73.1745(a) of the Rules
requires that no broadcast station shall operate at times, or
with modes or power, other than those specified in the station
license. JMK operated with daytime antenna (mode) and power
during nighttime hours.
11. Section 73.3526(e)(5) of the
Rules requires commercial broadcast stations place a copy of
the most recent , complete ownership report in the public
inspection file. JMK's most recent report was not included in
the file.
12. Section 73.3526(e)(12) of the
Rules requires commercial broadcast stations place in the
public inspection file every 3 months a list of programs that
have provided the station's most significant treatment of
community issues during the preceding three months. The list
shall include a brief narrative describing what issues were
given significant treatment and the programming that provided
that treatment. The description shall include, but shall not
be limited to, the time, date, duration, and title of each
program in which the issue was treated. The 2 lists that JMK
presented to the inspecting agent as being the issues/programs
list were different from each other and did not contain the
required information.
13. Based on the evidence before us,
we find that WKLC, Inc. willfully2 and repeatedly3 violated
Sections 11.35(a), 73.1745(a), 73.3526(e)(5) and
73.3526(e)(12) of the Rules by failing to have EAS equipment
properly installed and working, by exceeding power limits, and
for failure to maintain records in the public file. The
Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of
Section 1.80 of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture
Guidelines, 12 FCC Rcd 17087, 17113 (1997), recon. denied, 15
FCC Rcd 303(1999) (``Forfeiture Policy Statement'')4, sets the
base forfeiture amounts at $8,000 for failure to comply with
the rules relating to the installation and operability of EAS
equipment, $4,000 for exceeding power limits and $10,000 for
failure to comply with the public file rules. In assessing
the monetary forfeiture amount, we must take into account the
statutory factors set forth in Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (``Act''), as amended,5 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. Applying the
Forfeiture Policy Statement and the statutory factors to the
instant case and applying the inflation adjustments, we
believe that a twenty two thousand dollar ($22,000) monetary
forfeiture is warranted.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
14. 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 JMK is hereby NOTIFIED of this
APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE in the amount of twenty
thousand dollars ($22,000) for willfully violating Sections
11.35(a), 73.1745(a), 73.3526(e)(5) and 73.3526(e)(12) of the
Rules.
15. 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, JMK
SHALL PAY the full amount of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL
FILE a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of
the proposed forfeiture.
16. 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.
200432340004, and FRN 0006-1615-09.
17. The response, if any, must be
mailed to Federal Communications Commission, Enforcement
Bureau, Spectrum Enforcement Division, 445 12th Street, S.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20554 and MUST INCLUDE THE NAL/Acct. No.
200432340004.
18. 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.
19. Requests for payment of the full
amount of this Notice of Apparent Liability under an
installment plan should be sent to: Chief, Revenue and
Receivables Operations Group, 445 12th Street, S.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20554.8
20. 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 Spectrum Enforcement 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.
21. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT a
copy of this NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY shall be sent by
Certified Mail, Return Receipt requested, to JMK
Communications, Inc., 4525 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles,
California 90010.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
Charles C. Magin
District Director
Columbia Office
Attachment A - FCC List of Small Entities, October 2002
- Unhandled Picture -
_________________________
147 C.F.R. §§ 11.35(a), 73.1745(a), 73.3526(e)(5) and
73.3526(e)(12).
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.
447 C.F.R. § 1.80.
5 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).
6 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).
7 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, and 0.311.
8 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.