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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Town of Levan, Utah d/b/a Levan Town Cable )
Systems ) File No. EB-03-TS-103
)
Operator of Cable System in: )
)
Levan, Utah )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: July 1, 2003 Released: July 3, 2003
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Town of Levan, Utah d/b/a Levan
Town Cable Systems (``Town of Levan'') a temporary waiver of
Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the
above-captioned cable television system. 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. Town of Levan filed a request for a temporary waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable system on April 11,
2003. In support of its waiver request, Town of Levan states
that it was understaffed and under-funded and was unable to
retain counsel to submit a waiver request by the October 1,
2002 deadline for its small, rural cable system, which serves
approximately 187 subscribers. Town of Levan estimates that
it will cost approximately $10,000 to install EAS equipment at
this system. Town of Levan asserts that this cost will impose
a substantial financial hardship on it and provides financial
data for 2002 in support of this assertion. Town of Levan
asserts that its subscribers will continue to have ready
access to national EAS information from other sources,
including its cable system. Finally, Town of Levan believes
that it can bring the captioned cable system into EAS
compliance within the next three years.
4. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by Town of Levan, we conclude that a
temporary waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable
system from April 11, 2003 until October 1, 2005 is
warranted.9 In particular, we find that the estimated $10,000
cost of EAS equipment for this system could impose a financial
hardship on Town of Levan. However, we note that Town of
Levan did not file its waiver request until April 11, 2003,
after the October 1, 2002 deadline for cable systems serving
10,000 or fewer subscribers to install EAS equipment. We find
that Town of Levan was in violation of the requirement in
Section 11.11(a) of the Rules to install EAS equipment by
October 1, 2002. We admonish Town of Levan for this
violation.
5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,10 Town of Levan, Utah
d/b/a Levan Town Cable Systems IS GRANTED a waiver of Section
11.11(a) of the Rules from April 11, 2003 until October 1,
2005 for the captioned cable television system.
6. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Town of Levan, Utah d/b/a
Levan Town Cable Systems IS ADMONISHED for violating the
requirement in Section 11.11(a) of the Rules to install EAS
equipment by October 1, 2002.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Town of Levan, Utah d/b/a
Levan Town Cable Systems place a copy of this waiver in its
system file.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to
counsel for Town of Levan, Utah d/b/a Levan Town Cable
Systems, Christopher C. Cinnamon, Esq., Cinnamon Mueller, 307
North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1020, Chicago, Illinois 60601.
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 We clarify that the waiver we are granting also encompasses
the EAS testing and monitoring requirements.
10 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.