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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
)
In the Matter of )
) File No. 99TP016
Joy Public Broadcasting Corporation ) NAL/Acct. No.
915TP0004
Radio Station WJTF-FM )
Panama City, Florida )
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Adopted: January 25, 2001 Released: January 29,
2001
By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order (``Order''), we
partially grant a petition for reconsideration filed by Joy
Public Broadcasting Corporation (``Joy''), licensee of Station
WJTF-FM, Panama City, Florida, of a Memorandum Opinion and
Order issued in this proceeding on September 1, 2000.1 This
is the third petition for reconsideration filed by Joy in
connection with a Forfeiture Order2 which issued a $3,000
forfeiture against Joy for violations of Sections
73.1350(c)(2), 73.1590(a)(1), and 73.1870(b)(3) of the
Commission's Rules (``Rules'').3 The noted violations
involved Joy's failure to make periodic calibrations of the
station's monitoring equipment, to make equipment performance
measurements upon the initial installation of a new
transmitter, and to designate the station's chief operator in
writing and post a copy of the designation with the station
license.
2. In the instant petition for reconsideration, Joy does
not raise challenges to the rule violations which gave rise to
the $3,000 forfeiture issued in the Forfeiture Order. Rather,
Joy challenges the statement in the Forfeiture Order that the
November 17, 1998, inspection of WJTF-FM by the FCC's Tampa,
Florida Field Office (``Tampa Field Office'') revealed a
violation of Section 73.317(d) of the Rules, which provides
that any emissions appearing on a frequency removed from the
carrier by more than 600 kHz must be attenuated at least 43 +
10 Log10 (Power, in watts) dB below the level of the
unmodulated carrier, or 80 dB, whichever is the lesser
attenuation.4 Measurements taken by agents from the Tampa
Field Office during the November 17, 1998, inspection
indicated that WJTF-FM's second and third harmonics were not
attenuated to 80 dB below the fundamental frequency as
required by Section 73.317(d) of the Rules, and the Tampa
Field Office included this violation in a Notice of Violation
issued to Joy on December 4, 1998. However, the Tampa Field
Office did not include this violation in the Notice of
Apparent Liability for a Forfeiture5 issued to Joy on February
4, 1999, because measurements of the station's signal taken by
FCC agents on January 20, 1999, showed no violation of Section
73.317(d). Joy argues in its petition for reconsideration
that the finding of a violation of Section 73.317(d) in the
Forfeiture Order is not supported by the facts in the record;
that the measurements taken by the FCC agents during the
November 17, 1998, inspection were taken improperly; and that
neither the September 1, 2000, Memorandum Opinion and Order
nor any of the prior orders indicate whether the finding of a
violation of Section 73.317(d) will be held against Joy in the
future.
3. We grant Joy's petition for reconsideration for the
limited purpose of ruling that the Tampa Field Office's
finding of a violation of Section 73.317(d) during the
November 17, 1998, inspection will not be used against Joy in
any future proceeding. In light of this ruling, the remaining
arguments raised in Joy's petition for reconsideration are
moot and we need not address them here. We note that this
ruling does not alter our conclusion in the Forfeiture Order
that Joy violated Sections 73.1350(c)(2), 73.1590(a)(1), and
73.1870(b)(3) of the Rules or affect the amount of the
forfeiture assessed for those violations.
4. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section
405 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (``Act''),6
and Section 1.106 of the Rules,7 Joy Public Broadcasting
Corporation's petition for reconsideration of the September 1,
2000, Memorandum Opinion and Order IS GRANTED to the extent
indicated herein.
5. Payment of the forfeiture shall be made in the manner
provided for in Section 1.80 of the Rules8 within 30 days of
the release of this Order. If the forfeiture is not paid
within the period specified, the case may be referred to the
Department of Justice for collection pursuant to Section
504(a) of the Act.9 Payment shall be made by mailing a check
or similar instrument, payable to the order of the Federal
Communications Commission, to the Federal Communications
Commission, P.O. Box 73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482. The
payment should note the NAL/Acct. No. referenced above.
Requests for full payment under an installment plan should be
sent to: Chief, Credit and Debt Management Center, 445 12th
Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.10
6. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to Joy
Public Broadcasting Corporation, 341 S. Washington, Lancaster,
Wisconsin 53813, and to its counsel, Timothy E. Welch, Esq.,
Hill & Welch, 1330 New Hampshire Avenue N.W., Suite 113,
Washington, D.C. 20036.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
David H. Solomon
Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 15 FCC Rcd 18255 (Enf. Bur., 2000). The September 1, 2000
Memorandum Opinion and Order denied Joy's petition for
reconsideration of a Memorandum Opinion and Order issued on March
9, 2000. See 15 FCC Rcd 8575 (Enf. Bur., 2000).
2 14 FCC Rcd 856 (Compl. & Inf. Bur., 1999).
3 47 C.F.R. §§ 73.1350(c)(2), 73.1590(a)(1) and
73.1870(b)(3).
4 47 C.F.R. § 73.317(d).
5 Notice of Apparent Liability for a Forfeiture, NAL/Acct.
No. 915TP00004 (Compl. & Inf. Bur., Tampa, Florida Field Office,
released February 4, 1999).
6 47 U.S.C. § 405
7 47 C.F.R. § 1.106.
8 47 C.F.R. § 1.80.
9 47 U.S.C. § 504(a).
10 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.