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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Keene Valley Video, Inc. ) File No. EB-03-TS-052
)
Operator of Cable System in: )
)
Keene Valley, New York )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: August 19, 2003 Released: August 21,
2003
By the Chief, Spectrum Enforcement Division, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Keene Valley Video, Inc.
(``Keene Valley'') 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. Keene Valley filed a request dated for a temporary
waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable system on
November 1, 2002.9 In support of its waiver request, Keene
Valley states that this is small, rural cable system which
serves approximately 295 subscribers. Keene Valley asserts
that this cost will impose a substantial financial hardship
and it provides its financial statements for 2001 and 2002 in
support of this assertion. In addition, Keene Valley submits
that its subscribers will continue to have ready access to
national EAS information from other sources, including its
cable system. Keene Valley further submits 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 Keene Valley, we conclude that a
temporary waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned system
from November 1, 2002 until October 1, 2005 is warranted.10
However, we note that Keene Valley did not file its waiver
request until November 1, 2002, after the October 1, 2002
deadline for cable systems serving 10,000 or fewer subscribers
to install EAS equipment. We find that Keene Valley was in
violation of the requirement in Section 11.11(a) of the Rules
to install EAS equipment by October 1, 2002. We admonish
Keene Valley for this violation.
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.11 Based on comments
from equipment manufacturers, we anticipate that such a
decoder-only system could result in significant cost savings
to small cable systems.12
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,13 Keene Valley Video,
Inc. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules from
November 1, 2002 until October 1, 2005 for the captioned cable
television system.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Keene Valley Video, Inc. IS
ADMONISHED for violating the requirement in Section 11.11(a)
of the Rules to install EAS equipment by October 1, 2002.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Keene Valley Video, Inc.
place a copy of this waiver in its system file.
9. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to Timothy
A. Whitney, President, Keene Valley Video, Inc., P.O. Box 47,
Keene Valley, New York 12943.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Spectrum Enforcement 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 Although Keene Valley's waiver request is dated September
12, 2002, it was not received by the Commission until November 1,
2002.
10 We clarify that the waiver we are granting also encompasses
the EAS testing and monitoring requirements.
11 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).
12 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.
13 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.