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

In the Matter of                )
                                )
Central Valley Cable TV         )    File No. EB-02-TS-220
                                )
Operator of Cable Systems in:   )
                                )
Coalinga, California            )
Huron, California               )
Riverdale, California           )
Williams, California            )
Arbuckle, California            )
Maxwell, California             )
Gualala, California             )
The Sea Ranch, California       )
Point Arena, California         )
Manchester, California          )
                                )
                                )
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the     )    
Commission's Rules              )    
                                        
                              ORDER 

Adopted:  October 21, 2002              Released:   October   25, 
2002 

By the Chief, Technical  and Public Safety Division,  Enforcement 
Bureau:

1.         In  this  Order,  we grant  Central  Valley  Cable  TV 
  (``Central  Valley   Cable'')  temporary  waivers  of   Section 
  11.11(a) of the  Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the  above-
  captioned cable television  systems.  Specifically, we grant  a 
  24-month waiver for the Riverdale, California cable system  and 
  36-month   waivers  for   the  Coalinga,   California;   Huron, 
  California;   Williams,   California;   Arbuckle,   California; 
  Maxwell,  California;  Gualala,  California;  The  Sea   Ranch, 
  California; Point Arena, California and Manchester,  California 
  cable  systems.    Section  11.11(a)  requires  cable   systems 
  serving fewer than  5,000 subscribers from a headend to  either 
  provide  national   level  Emergency  Alert  System   (``EAS'') 
  messages on  all programmed channels  or install EAS  equipment 
  and  provide  a   video  interrupt  and  audio  alert  on   all 
  programmed  channels and  EAS audio  and video  messages on  at 
  least one programmed channel by October 1, 2002.1

2.        The Cable Act of 1992  added new Section 624(g) to  the 
  Communications  Act  of 1934  (``Act''),  which  requires  that 
  cable  systems be  capable of  providing  EAS alerts  to  their 
  subscribers.2  In 1994, the Commission adopted rules  requiring 
  cable systems to participate in EAS.3  In 1997, the  Commission 
  amended the  EAS rules  to provide financial  relief for  small 
  cable systems.4  The Commission declined to exempt small  cable 
  systems  from the  EAS requirements,  concluding that  such  an 
  exemption would be  inconsistent with the statutory mandate  of 
  Section  624(g).5    However,  the   Commission  extended   the 
  deadline   for  cable   systems  serving   fewer  than   10,000 
  subscribers to  begin complying with the  EAS rules to  October 
  1, 2002,  and provided cable systems  serving fewer than  5,000 
  subscribers the option  of either providing national level  EAS 
  messages  on   all  programmed  channels   or  installing   EAS 
  equipment and  providing a video interrupt  and audio alert  on 
  all programmed channels and EAS audio and video messages on  at 
  least  one programmed  channel.6  In  addition, the  Commission 
  stated that  it would grant waivers of  the EAS rules to  small 
  cable  systems  on  a case-by-case  basis  upon  a  showing  of 
  financial  hardship.7   The Commission  indicated  that  waiver 
  requests must contain at least the following information:   (1) 
  justification for the waiver, with reference to the  particular 
  rule sections  for which  a waiver is  sought; (2)  information 
  about the financial status of the requesting entity, such as  a 
  balance sheet and  income statement for the two previous  years 
  (audited, if possible);  (3) the number of other entities  that 
  serve the  requesting entity's coverage area  and that have  or 
  are expected to  install EAS equipment; and (4) the  likelihood 
  (such  as proximity  or frequency)  of hazardous  risks to  the 
  requesting entity's audience.8

3.        Central Valley  Cable filed  a request  for waivers  of 
  Section 11.11(a)  for the 10  above-captioned cable systems  on 
  May  30, 2002.    In support  of its  waiver requests,  Central  
  Valley Cable  states that each of  these systems serves  small, 
  rural  communities and  have  few subscribers.  Central  Valley 
  Cable asserts  that the  cost of  EAS equipment  will impose  a 
  substantial  financial   hardship  on  it   and  provides   its 
  financial  statements for  2000 and  2001  in support  of  this 
  assertion.   

4.        Based upon our review of  the financial data and  other 
  information submitted  by Central Valley  Cable, we decline  to 
  grant  Central  Valley Cable  a  permanent  waiver  of  Section 
  11.11(a) for the  Riverdale System.  However, we find that  the 
  cost  of EAS  equipment for  these  small cable  systems  could 
  impose   a  financial   hardship  on   Central  Valley   Cable.  
  Therefore, we  conclude that  a temporary,  24-month waiver  of 
  Section  11.11(a) for  the Riverdale,  California cable  system 
  and temporary,  36-month waivers  of Section  11.11(a) for  the 
  Coalinga, California;  Huron, California; William,  California; 
  Arbuckle,    California;    Maxwell,    California;    Gualala, 
  California; The Sea Ranch, California; Point Arena,  California 
  and Manchester, California cable systems are warranted. 9

5.        We note that  the Commission recently  amended the  EAS 
  rules  to  permit  cable  systems  serving  fewer  than   5,000 
  subscribers  to   install  FCC-certified  decoder-only   units, 
  rather  than both  encoders  and  decoders, if  such  a  device 
  becomes  available.10    Based  on   comments  from   equipment 
  manufacturers, we  anticipate that such  a decoder-only  system 
  could  result  in  significant  cost  savings  to  small  cable 
  systems.11  

6.        Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED  that, pursuant to  Sections 
  0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,12 Central Valley  Cable 
  TV IS GRANTED a  waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules  until 
  October 1,  2004 and  October 1, 2005  for the  above-captioned 
  cable televisions systems.

7.        IT IS  FURTHER ORDERED  that  Central Valley  Cable  TV 
  place a copy of this waiver in its system files.

8.        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that  a copy of this Order  shall 
  be sent  by Certified Mail Return  Receipt Requested to  Thomas 
  E. Gelardi,  Manager, Central  Valley Cable  TV, 375  Woodworth 
  Ave, #102, Clovis, CA 93612.

                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                         


                         Joseph P. Casey
                         Chief, Technical and Public Safety 
Division
                         Enforcement Bureau
                    
_________________________

  1 47 C.F.R. § 11.11(a).

  2 Cable Television  Consumer Protection and Competition Act  of 
1992, Pub. L. No. 102-385, § 16(b), 106 Stat. 1460, 1490  (1992).  
Section 624(g) provides that  ``each cable operator shall  comply 
with such standards as the  Commission shall prescribe to  ensure 
that viewers of video programming  on cable systems are  afforded 
the same emergency  information as is  afforded by the  emergency 
broadcasting system pursuant to Commission regulations ....''  47 
U.S.C. § 544(g).  

  3 Amendment  of Part 73, Subpart  G, of the Commission's  Rules 
Regarding the Emergency  Broadcast System, Report  and Order  and 
Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, FO Docket Nos. 91-171/91-
301, 10  FCC  Rcd  1786  (1994)  (``First  Report  and  Order''), 
reconsideration granted in part, denied in part, 10 FCC Rcd 11494 
(1995).

  4 Amendment  of Part 73, Subpart  G, of the Commission's  Rules 
Regarding the  Emergency  Broadcast  System,  Second  Report  and 
Order, FO  Docket Nos.  91-171/91-301, 12  FCC Rcd  15503  (1997) 
(``Second Report and Order'').

  5 Id. at 15512-13.

  6 Id. at 15516-15518.

  7 Id. at 15513.

  8 Id. at 15513, n. 59.

  9 The 12-month waiver  will extend from October 1, 2002,  until 
October 1, 2003, and the 36-month waiver will extend from October 
1, 2002 until October  1, 2005.  We clarify  that the waivers  we 
are granting  also  encompass  the  EAS  testing  and  monitoring 
requirements.  

  10 Amendment  of Part  11 of the  Commission's Rules  Regarding 
the Emergency Alert System,  EB Docket 01-66, FCC  02-64 at ¶  71 
(released February 26, 2002).

  11 One manufacturer  estimated that an EAS decoder-only  system 
can reduce the cost by 64% over what a cable operator would spend 
for an encoder/decoder unit.  Id. at ¶ 70.

  12 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.