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

In the Matter of                )
                                )
Alsea River Cable TV            )    File No. EB-02-TS-337
                                )
Operator of Cable Systems in:   )
                                )
Butler Peak, Oregon             )
Barcley Meadows, Oregon         )
                                )
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the     )    
Commission's Rules              )    
                                        
                              ORDER 

Adopted:  April 28, 2003                Released:  May 2, 2003

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

1.         In this Order, we grant Alsea River Cable TV  (``Alsea 
  River'')  temporary, 36-month  waivers of  Section 11.11(a)  of 
  the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the two  above-captioned 
  cable  television  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.        On May 1, 2002, Alsea River filed a request for waivers 
  of Section  11.11(a) for the two  small, rural captioned  cable 
  systems.  In support of its waiver request, Alsea River  states 
  that  the  two  systems,  together,  serve  approximately   913 
  subscribers.  Based on  price quotes provided by EAS  equipment 
  manufacturers,  Alsea  River  estimates  that  it  would   cost 
  approximately $7,500  to install  EAS equipment  at each  cable 
  system.   Alsea River  asserts that  this  cost will  impose  a 
  substantial  financial   hardship  on  it   and  provides   its 
  financial  statements for  2000 and  2001  in support  of  this 
  assertion.   In   addition,  Alsea  River   submits  that   its 
  subscribers will continue to have ready access to national  EAS 
  information from  other sources, including  its cable  systems.  
  In  this  regard,  Alsea  River  notes  that  its   subscribers 
  currently  have   access  to  national   EAS  messages  on   21 
  programmed  channels.   Alsea  River  also  asserts  that   its 
  subscribers will have  access to EAS information through  over-
  the-air reception of broadcast television and radio stations. 

4.        Based upon our review of  the financial data and  other 
  information  submitted  by   Alsea  River,  we  conclude   that 
  temporary, 36-month  waivers of  Section 11.11(a)  for the  two 
  captioned  cable systems  are  warranted.9  In  particular,  we 
  find that the estimated  $7,500 cost of EAS equipment for  each 
  of  the  two  small cable  systems  could  impose  a  financial 
  hardship on Alsea River.  

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 Alsea River Cable  TV 
  IS GRANTED  a waiver  of Section  11.11(a) of  the Rules  until 
  October  1,  2005  for  the  two  captioned  cable   television 
  systems.

7.        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Alsea River 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  James 
  Dale  and  LoLeta Haslett,  Owners,  Alsea  River  Cable,  Post 
  Office Box 386, Waldport, Oregon  97394.

                         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 waivers 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.