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

In the Matter of                 )     File No. EB-02-KC-174
                                )
Maria L. Salazar                 )     NAL/Acct. No. 200232560011
Licensee, Station KTCM(FM)       )
Kingman, Kansas                  )     FRN 0003-7578-12



           NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

          Adopted:  July 15, 2002                 Released:  July 
18, 2002                           
By the Commission: 

                        I.   INTRODUCTION

     1.   In this  Notice of  Apparent Liability  for  Forfeiture 
(``NAL''), we find  Maria L. Salazar,  licensee of radio  station 
KTCM(FM), Kingman, Kansas, and owner of antenna structure  number 
1057462 near Spivey, Kansas,  apparently liable for a  forfeiture 
in the  amount  of  thirty-nine thousand  dollars  ($39,000)  for 
willful and repeated violation of Sections 301 and 303(q) of  the 
Communications Act of 1934,  as amended (``Act'')1, and  Sections 
73.1350(a) and 17.51 of the Commissions Rules (``Rules'').2   Ms. 
Salazar is also  apparently liable for  the willful violation  of 
Sections  11.35(a),  73.1125(a),  and  73.3526  of  the   Rules.3  
Specifically, we find Ms. Salazar apparently liable for operating 
a  radio  station  from  an  unauthorized  location;  failing  to 
maintain prescribed  obstruction  lighting on  antenna  structure 
number 1057462; failing to  install and maintain Emergency  Alert 
System  (``EAS'')  equipment  at  station  KTCM(FM);  failing  to 
maintain a main studio at an authorized location; and failing  to 
maintain a public inspection file.  

                         II.  BACKGROUND

     2.   On April 8, 2002, as a result of receiving a  complaint 
that station  KTCM(FM) was  broadcasting on  frequency 100.3  MHz 
from an unauthorized location in Wichita, Kansas, agents from the 
Commission's Kansas City,  Missouri Field  Office (``Kansas  City 
Office'') went to Wichita, Kansas to determine if an unauthorized 
station  was  broadcasting  on  frequency  100.3  MHz.   Once  in 
Wichita, using standard direction finding techniques, the  agents 
determined that  a radio  station was  broadcasting on  frequency 
100.3 MHz from the Latino Boom Nightclub at 1514 West 21st Street 
North.   The  agents   checked  the   Commission's  records   and 
determined that no license to operate a FM broadcast station from 
this location had been issued.

     3.   The agents then  drove to  the last  known main  studio 
address for  station  KTCM(FM) at  315  West D  Avenue,  Kingman, 
Kansas.  In front  of the  building at  that address  was a  sign 
imprinted with the  letters ``KTCM,'' however,  the building  was 
locked, appeared to be empty, and no one answered when the agents 
knocked.   The  agents  then   drove  to  KTCM(FM)'s   authorized 
transmitter site near Spivey,  Kansas.  At the transmitter  site, 
the agents,  by  using  standard  direction  finding  techniques, 
determined  that  KTCM(FM)  was  broadcasting  from  the  antenna 
structure at that location on  its authorized frequency of  100.3 
MHz.  The programming at the transmitter site appeared to be  the 
same as that  being broadcast from  the unauthorized location  in 
Wichita.

     4.   While at  the transmitter  site, the  agents  inspected 
antenna structure number 1057462, which is owned by Ms.  Salazar.  
The agents observed  that, of  the six prescribed  lights on  the 
structure, the top  flashing beacon  and three of  the four  side 
lamps  were  not  lighted.   The  agents  contacted  the  Federal 
Aviation  Administration  (``FAA'')  Flight  Service  Station  in 
Wichita, Kansas, determined that no  report of light outages  had 
been made for antenna structure number 1057462, and reported  the 
outage.

     5.   On April 9,  2002, after  confirming that  unauthorized 
broadcast transmissions continued to emanate from the Latino Boom 
Nightclub, the agents  interviewed Ms. Salazar  at the  nightclub 
and inspected the station.  The agents also interviewed Mr.  Juan 
Antonio Delgado because  Ms. Salazar instructed  them to  address 
their questions  concerning  the  operation of  KTCM(FM)  to  Mr. 
Delgado.  Mr. Delgado stated that  the studio at the Latino  Boom 
originated programming for both KTCM(FM)'s authorized transmitter 
and the unauthorized  station at the  nightclub.  In response  to 
the agent's questioning, Ms. Salazar stated that she did not have 
an authorization to operate at  the Latino Boom Nightclub.   Also 
during the inspection, the agents determined that KTCM(FM) had no 
public inspection file and no EAS equipment.  

     6.   On April 18,  2002, the Kansas  City Office received  a 
letter from Ms. Salazar, in which she stated that she relied on a 
professional broadcast engineer to  ensure that her operation  of 
KTCM(FM) was in accordance with the Act and the Rules.  She  also 
stated that she moved KTCM(FM)'s studio to Wichita on the  advice 
of the engineer and that, because he recommended it, she  thought 
the move  was legal.   Finally Ms.  Salazar stated  that she  has 
ceased operating from  Wichita and has  moved  KTCM(FM)'s  studio 
back to Kingman.    

                         III. DISCUSSION

     7.   Section 301 of the Act  sets forth the general  mandate 
that no  person  shall  use  or operate  any  apparatus  for  the 
transmission of  energy or  communications  or signals  by  radio 
within the United States except under and in accordance with  the 
Act and with  a license.  Section  73.1350(a) provides that  each 
licensee  is  responsible  for  maintaining  and  operating   its 
broadcast station in a manner  which complies with the  technical 
rules set forth elsewhere in this part and in accordance with the 
terms of the station authorization.  Although Ms. Salazar holds a 
Commission license  to operate  a broadcast  station in  Kingman, 
Kansas, on April  8 and  9, 2002,  Ms. Salazar  operated a  radio 
station on frequency 100.3  MHz at 1514  West 21st Street  North, 
Wichita, Kansas, a location from which she was not authorized  to 
operate.

     8.   Section 303(q) of the  Act, along with  Part 17 of  the 
Rules, requires antenna structure owners to maintain the painting 
and  lighting  of  antenna   structures  as  prescribed  by   the 
Commission.  The  Commission's  antenna  structure  construction, 
marking and  lighting requirements  operate in  concert with  the 
FAA's regulations  to  ensure  that  antenna  structures  do  not 
present hazards to air navigation.  Generally, our rules  require 
that antenna structures  located close  to airports  or that  are 
greater than 200 feet in height comply with painting and lighting 
specifications designed to ensure air safety.4  The Rules further 
require antenna  structure  owners  to monitor  lights  daily  or 
install  automatic  alarm  systems  to  ensure  lights   function 
properly.5  The Rules also require that red obstruction  lighting 
be exhibited from sunset to sunrise unless otherwise  specified.6  
Antenna  structure  owners  are  required  to  maintain  lighting 
equipment and replace  or repair  inoperative lights,  indicators 
and  control  and   alarm  systems  as   soon  as   practicable.7  
Additionally, antenna structure  owners are required  immediately 
to notify  the  FAA  when  major  antenna  structure  lights  are 
inoperative and  cannot  be  repaired within  30  minutes.8   Ms. 
Salazar's antenna structure required obstruction lighting because 
it is  greater  than 200  feet  in  height and  because  the  FAA 
recommended obstruction lighting for  the structure.  The  agents 
observed that  four of  the  six prescribed  obstruction  lights, 
including the top flashing beacon  and three of four side  lamps, 
were unlighted on  April 8,  2002 at  4:30 p.m.  in violation  of 
Section 17.51 of the  Rules.  During the  inspection on April  9, 
2002, Mr. Delgado stated that he knew the lights were out for  at 
least two  weeks prior  to the  inspection and  that he  had  not 
reported the light outage to the FAA as required.  There were  no 
logs documenting the  light outages.   Additionally, Mr.  Delgado 
stated that he visually  observed the lights approximately  every 
two weeks and not on the requisite daily basis.   
     9.   Section  11.35(a)  of  the  Rules  requires   broadcast 
stations to have  the necessary EAS  equipment installed so  that 
monitoring and transmitting  functions are  available during  the 
times the  station and  systems are  in operation.   On April  9, 
2002, Ms. Salazar had no EAS equipment installed at the  KTCM(FM) 
studio.  Ms.  Salazar  stated  during  the  inspection  that  the 
equipment had been removed for repair and had not been  replaced.  
There were no log entries indicating removal of the equipment for 
repair  and  there  were  no  log  entries  indicating  that  EAS 
equipment had ever been installed or used.  Although Ms.  Salazar 
stated that  KTCM(FM)'s engineer  removed the  EAS equipment  for 
repair about 60 days  prior to the  inspection, the fact  remains 
that no EAS equipment  was installed at  station KTCM(FM) on  the 
day of the inspection and there is no evidence that EAS equipment 
had been removed  for repair.  In  this regard, we  note that  if 
defective EAS equipment was sent  out for repair in late  January 
or early February of 2002, as Ms. Salazar stated, then a  request 
for additional time  to have the  equipment repaired should  have 
already been  made  to  the  Kansas  City  Office  under  Section 
11.35(c) of the Rules,9 which  requires that an informal  request 
be submitted to  the District  Director of the  FCC Field  Office 
serving the area in which KTCM(FM) is located for additional time 
to repair defective EAS equipment if the repair or replacement is 
not completed within 60 days.  No such request has been  received 
by the Kansas City Office. 

     10.  Section 73.1125(a)  of  the  Rules  generally  requires 
broadcast stations  to  maintain a  main  studio at  one  of  the 
following locations:   (i)  within  the  station's  community  of 
license; (ii)  at any  location  within the  principal  community 
contour of  any AM,  FM,  TV broadcast  station licensed  to  the 
station's community of license; or (iii) within twenty-five miles 
from the reference coordinates of the center of its community  of 
license.   In  December,  2001,  Ms.  Salazar  admittedly   moved 
KTCM(FM)'s main studio outside of Kingman, Kansas, its  community 
of license, to the Latino Boom Nightclub in Wichita, Kansas.   At 
the time of  the inspection,  the KTCM(FM) studio  at the  Latino 
Boom was  located  27.1  miles outside  of  KTCM(FM)'s  principal 
community contour.  The only other broadcast station licensed  to 
Kingman, Kansas was station KCVW(FM).  The Latino Boom  Nightclub 
is located 12.6 miles outside of the principal community  contour 
of station KCVW(FM).  Further, the Latino Boom Nightclub is  41.9 
miles from the reference coordinates of the center of the city of 
Kingman, Kansas.  Therefore, the  location of station  KTCM(FM)'s 
main studio on  the date  of the inspection  was not  any of  the 
locations permitted by Section 73.1125(a) of the Rules.

     11.  Section  73.3526  of  the  Rules  requires   commercial 
broadcast stations  to maintain  a  public inspection  file.   On 
April 9, 2002, no  public file for  station KTCM(FM) was  present 
during the inspection and  in response to  the agents request  to 
see the public file, Ms. Salazar stated that the station did  not 
have a public file.  

     12.  Based on  the  evidence before  us,  we find  that  Ms. 
Salazar, licensee of  KTCM(FM), Kingman,  Kansas, has  apparently 
operated a radio station at an unauthorized location without  the 
required license to  operate at  that location  in willful10  and 
repeated11 violation  of  Section  301 of  the  Act  and  Section 
73.1350(a)  of   the  Rules;   failed  to   maintain   prescribed 
obstruction lighting  on her  antenna  structure in  willful  and 
repeated violation of Section 303(q) of the Act and Section 17.51 
of the  Rules;  failed  to  install  and  maintain  operable  EAS 
equipment in willful violation of Section 11.35(a) of the  Rules; 
failed to maintain  a main  studio at an  authorized location  in 
willful violation of Section 73.1125(a) of the Rules; and  failed 
to maintain a public inspection at KTCM(FM)'s main studio file in 
willful violation of Section 73.3526 of the Rules.

     13.  Section 503(b) of the Act,12 authorizes the  Commission 
to assess a forfeiture for each willful or repeated violation  of 
the Act  or of  any  rule, regulation,  or  order issued  by  the 
Commission under the Act.  In  exercising such authority, we  are 
to take  into account  ``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 such other matters as justice may require.''13

     14.  Pursuant  to   The   Commission's   Forfeiture   Policy 
Statement  and  Amendment  of  Section  1.80  of  the  Rules   to 
Incorporate  the  Forfeiture   Guidelines  (``Forfeiture   Policy 
Statement'')14  and  Section  1.80  of  the  Rules,15  the   base 
forfeiture amounts  for the  listed  violations are:  $4,000  for 
operation of  a  radio  station at  an  unauthorized  location;16 
$10,000 for  failure  to  comply  with  prescribed  lighting  and 
marking requirements;17 $8,000 for failure to have EAS  equipment 
installed and operational;18 $7,000 for violating the main studio 
rule;19 and  $10,000 for  violating  the public  inspection  file 
rule.20  Thus, the total  base forfeiture amount  for all of  Ms. 
Salazar's violations is $39,000.   Consistent with precedent,  we 
propose to issue a forfeiture in the amount of $39,000.

                      III. ORDERING CLAUSES

     15.  Accordingly, IT IS  ORDERED that,  pursuant to  Section 
503(b) of  the Act,  and  Section 1.80  of  the Rules,  Maria  L. 
Salazar,  licensee  of  KTCM(FM),  Kingman,  Kansas,  is   hereby 
NOTIFIED of  this  APPARENT LIABILITY  FOR  A FORFEITURE  in  the 
amount of thirty-nine  thousand dollars  ($39,000) for  willfully 
and repeatedly violating Sections 301  and 303(q) of the Act  and 
Sections 73.1350(a)  and 17.51  of the  Rules and  for  willfully 
violating Sections  11.35(a),  73.1125(a),  and  73.3526  of  the 
Rules.

     16.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 1.80 of 
the Rules, within thirty  days of the release  date of this  NAL, 
Maria L.  Salazar  SHALL PAY  the  full amount  of  the  proposed 
forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement seeking reduction or 
cancellation of the proposed forfeiture. 

     17.  Payment 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  NAL/Acct.  No. 
200232560011 and FRN # 0003-7578-12.  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. 20554.21

     18.  The response if  any must  be mailed to  Office of  the 
Secretary, Federal  Communications Commission,  445 12th  Street, 
S.W.,  Washington,  D.C.  20554,   ATTN:  Enforcement  Bureau   - 
Technical and Public Safety  Division and must include  NAL/Acct. 
No. 200232560011.

     19.  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; 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.

     20.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this NAL shall  be 
sent by regular mail and Certified Mail Return Receipt  Requested 
to Maria L. Salazar at 207 W. 13th Street North, Wichita,  Kansas 
67203.  

                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                              Marlene H. Dortch
                              Secretary


_________________________

1 47 U.S.C. §§ 301 and 303(q).
2 47 C.F.R. §§ 17.51 and 73.1350(a).
3 47 C.F.R. §§ 11.35(a), 73.1125(a), and 73.3526.
4 47 C.F.R. § 17.21.
5 47 C.F.R. § 17.47
6 47 C.F.R. § 17.51. 
7 47 C.F.R. § 17.56
8 47 C.F.R. § 17.48
9 47 C.F.R. § 11.35(c).
10    Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(1),  which 
applies to violations  for which forfeitures  are assessed  under 
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 4387-88 (1991).
11     See  id.  at  4388;  as  defined  in  the  Act,  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). 
12    47 U.S.C. § 503(b).
13    47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).
14    12  FCC Rcd  17087 (1997),  recon. denied  15 FCC  Rcd  303 
(1999).
15    47 C.F.R. § 1.80.
16    See, e.g., M.C. Allen Productions, 16 FCC Rcd 21138,  21143 
(Enf. Bur. 2001);  Arvada Excavating  Company, Inc.,  15 FCC  Rcd 
13590, 13590 (Enf. Bur.  2000) (both imposing $4,000  forfeitures 
for operating from an unauthorized location).
17    See, e.g., Tidewater Communications, Inc., 17 FCC Rcd 8586, 
8586 (Enf. Bur. 2002);  Spectrasite Communications, Inc., 16  FCC 
Rcd  17668,  17668  (Enf.  Bur.  2001)  (both  imposing   $10,000 
forfeitures for  violating the  Commission's prescribed  lighting 
and marking requirements). 
18    See,  e.g., Radio  One Licenses,  Inc., 16  FCC Rcd  15326, 
15327-15328 (Enf.  Bur. 2001),  recon. denied,  17 FCC  Rcd  1724 
(Enf.  Bur.  2001),  application   for  review  pending;   Arnold 
Broadcasting Company, Inc., 16 FCC Rcd 13600, 13602 (2001)  (both 
imposing  $8,000  forfeitures  for   not  having  EAS   equipment 
installed and operational).  
19    See, e.g., American Broadcasting Educational Foundation, 15 
FCC Rcd 8630, 8630 (Enf. Bur. 2000) (imposing a $7,000 forfeiture 
for violation of the main studio rules).  
20    See, e.g., Radio One  Licenses, Inc., at 15330 (imposing  a 
$10,000 forfeiture  for  failure to  maintain  public  inspection 
file).  See also Riverside Broadcasting, Inc., 15 FCC Rcd  18322, 
18323  (Enf.  Bur.,  Inv.  &  Hear.  2000)  (imposing  a  $10,000 
forfeiture for public file violations).  
21    See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.