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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
St. Louis Mobile Systems Inc. ) File No. EB-02-KC-0549
) NAL/Acct. No. 200232560023
Owner of Unregistered Antenna Structure Located ) FRN 0005-
9463-55
at 38° 17' 31'' North Latitude and 91° 41' 50'' )
West Longitude, near Belle, Missouri )
)
Rolla, Missouri )
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Adopted: September 3, 2004 Released: September 8, 2004
By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order (``Order''), we
grant the petition for reconsideration filed by St. Louis
Mobile Systems Inc. (``St. Louis Mobile''), owner of an
antenna structure located at geographic coordinates 38° 17'
31'' North Latitude and 91° 41' 50'' West Longitude (``the
Belle tower'') of the Forfeiture Order1 issued to St. Louis
Mobile on June 27, 2003, cancel the $3,000 monetary forfeiture
and admonish St. Louis Mobile for repeated violation of
Section 17.4(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'').2 The
noted violation involves St. Louis Mobile's failure to
register the Belle tower.
2. In its petition for reconsideration pursuant to Section
405 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (``Act''),3
St. Louis Mobile does not dispute our determination that the
Belle tower was not registered from 1996 until July 2002, but
argues that we should cancel or reduce the forfeiture because
of its good faith efforts to register the tower.
Specifically, St. Louis Mobile asserts that, in the Forfeiture
Order, we incorrectly found that St. Louis Mobile had made no
efforts to register the Belle tower since 1999 when, in fact,
it attempted to do so between 1999 and June 2002. Finally,
St. Louis Mobile provides additional information to support
its claim, originally made in its response to the NAL, that it
is unable to pay the $3,000 monetary forfeiture.
3. Even if St. Louis Mobile did try to register its tower
between 1999 and June 2002, that would not warrant
cancellation or reduction of the forfeiture. The apparent
reason for the failure of St. Louis Mobile's attempts to
register the Belle Tower was its inability to provide certain
information regarding a 1981 Federal Aviation Administration
(``FAA'') study requested by the prior owner. As pointed out
in the Forfeiture Order, if St. Louis Mobile was unable to get
this information, it simply could have requested that the FAA
conduct a new study.
4. In the Forfeiture Order, we found that we did not have
a sufficient basis upon which to evaluate St. Louis Mobile's
claim of inability to pay the forfeiture because St. Louis
Mobile did not provide any financial information concerning
its paging and radiotelephone operations. St. Louis Mobile
has now provided that information and copies of its 1999, 2000
and 2001 federal income tax returns. After reviewing the
information provided by St. Louis Mobile, we conclude that
payment of the $3,000 monetary forfeiture would pose a
financial hardship and that cancellation of the forfeiture is
warranted on the basis of St. Louis Mobile's inability to pay.
We do find, however that St. Louis Mobile should be admonished
for its repeated violations of Section 17.4(a) of the Rules.
5. We have examined St. Louis Mobile's petition for
reconsideration pursuant to the statutory factors prescribed
by Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Act,4 and in conjunction with
the Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of
Section 1.80 of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture
Guidelines,5 as well. As a result of our review, we conclude
that St. Louis Mobile's petition for reconsideration should be
granted, the monetary forfeiture against St. Louis Mobile
should be cancelled and St. Louis Mobile should be admonished
for its repeated violations of Section 17.4(a) of the Rules.
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section
504(b) of the Act6 and Section 1.80(i) of the Rules, 7 the
$3,000 forfeiture issued to St. Louis Mobile Systems, Inc., IS
CANCELLED, and that pursuant to Sections 405 of the Act and
1.106 of the Rules,8 St Louis Mobile's Petition for
Reconsideration IS hereby GRANTED.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that St. Louis Mobile Systems,
Inc., IS ADMONISHED for failure to register the Belle tower.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by first class mail and certified mail return receipt
requested to St. Louis Mobile Systems Inc., P.O. Box 405,
Rolla, Missouri 65402-0405.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
David H. Solomon
Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 St. Louis Mobile Systems Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 12670 (Enf. Bur.
2003).
2 47 C.F.R. § 17.4(a).
3 47 U.S.C. § 405.
4 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).
5 12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303 (1999).
6 47 U.S.C. § 504(b).
7 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(i).
8 47 C.F.R. § 1.106.