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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.