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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
)
)
In the Matter of
) File Number: EB-09-SD-0152
DTG Operations Inc. d/b/a Dollar
Rent-A-Car ) NAL/Acct. No.: 201132940001
San Diego, California ) FRN: 0019529643
)
)
FORFEITURE ORDER
Adopted: April 3, 2012 Released: April 4, 2012
By the Regional Director, Western Region, Enforcement Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Forfeiture Order, we issue a monetary forfeiture in the amount
of twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) to DTG Operations Inc., d/b/a
Dollar Rent-A-Car (Dollar) in San Diego, California, for willfully and
repeatedly violating Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended (Act), by operating an unlicensed transmitter; and violating
Section 1.903(a) of the Commission's rules (Rules), which requires
stations in the Wireless Radio Services to operate in accordance with
the provisions of the rule that are applicable to their particular
service and only with a valid authorization granted by the Commission.
The noted violations involved Dollar's operation on frequency 452.250
MHz without Commission authorization.
II. BACKGROUND
2. After receiving complaints from the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) of intermittent interference to three ground control frequencies
used by air traffic controllers at the San Diego International
Airport, agents from the Enforcement Bureau's San Diego Office (San
Diego Office) used mobile direction finding equipment on December 11
and 14, 2009, to locate the source of the interference to spurious
signals emitted from a transmitter on a Dollar airport shuttle bus.
The transmitter on the shuttle bus was operating on frequency 452.250
MHz, and emitting spurious signals as well, which were causing
interference to the ground control frequencies. On December 14, 2009,
during an inspection by the San Diego agents at Dollar's facility
located near the San Diego International Airport, the manager of the
facility took the transmitter that was the source of the spurious
signals out of service and acknowledged that Dollar had no
authorization to operate on frequency 452.250 MHz at the San Diego
location.
3. On January 12, 2010, the San Diego Office issued a letter of inquiry
(LOI) to Dollar. On March 10, 2010, the San Diego Office received a
reply to the LOI from Dollar's senior maintenance manager. In its LOI
Response, Dollar acknowledged that it did not have authorization to
operate on 452.250 MHz in San Diego. Dollar provided a copy of an FCC
Industrial/Business radio station authorization, WQLJ666, granted by
the Commission on February 16, 2010, for operation on 463.450 MHz and
463.7375 MHz. Dollar stated that its radios were installed by a local
radio company in 1998, and had been in use on 452.250 MHz since that
time.
4. On December 10, 2010, the San Diego Office issued a Notice of Apparent
Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) in the amount of $12,000 to Dollar for
operating a land mobile station in San Diego, California, without the
requisite Commission authorization. Dollar responded to the NAL on
December 20, 2010. In its Response, Dollar requests that we reduce the
proposed forfeiture because the violation was "an unintentional
mistake," which Dollar readily admitted, and because Dollar cooperated
fully in the investigation.
III. DISCUSSION
5. The proposed forfeiture amount in this case was assessed in accordance
with Section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended
(Act), Section 1.80 of the Rules, and the Commission's Forfeiture
Policy Statement. In examining Dollar's response, Section 503(b) of
the Act requires that the Commission take into account the nature,
circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation and, with respect
to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior
offenses, ability to pay, and other such matters as justice may
require. We considered Dollar's response to the NAL in light of these
statutory factors and find that reduction of the forfeiture is not
warranted.
6. Section 301 of the Act states that "[n]o person shall use or operate
any apparatus for the transmission of energy or communications or
signals by radio . . . except under and in accordance with this Act
and with a license in that behalf granted under the provisions of this
Act." Section 1.903(a) of the Rules states that "[s]tations in the
Wireless Radio Services must be used and operated only in accordance
with the rules applicable to their particular service as set forth in
this title and with a valid authorization granted by the Commission .
. . ." On December 11, 2009, and December 14, 2009, agents from the
San Diego Office determined that an unlicensed land mobile radio
system was operating on the frequency 452.250 MHz from a Dollar
airport shuttle bus. Dollar admitted to the San Diego agents that it
did not have an FCC authorization to operate on 452.250 MHz in the San
Diego area.
7. Although Dollar does not dispute the factual findings in the NAL, it
asks for a reduction of the proposed forfeiture, claiming that the
mistake was unintentional. The fact that Dollar's unauthorized
operation may have resulted from an unintentional mistake does not
excuse the particular violations found in this case. Under the
applicable statute, the Commission need not demonstrate an intent to
violate a rule to make a finding that a licensee engaged in willful
misconduct. As stated in the NAL, Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, which
applies to violations for which forfeitures are assessed under Section
503(b) of the Act, provides that "[t]he term `willful,' when used with
reference to the commission or omission of any act, means the
conscious and deliberate commission or omission of such act,
irrespective of any intent to violate any provision of this Act or any
rule or regulation of the Commission authorized by this Act . . . ."
As the facts are undisputed that Dollar personnel operated the
transmitter on frequency 452.250 MHz on the dates in question without
Commission authorization, we find that its violation of Section 301 of
the Act and Section 1.903(a) of the rules was therefore, according to
Commission precedent, willful.
8. Dollar also argues that a reduction is justified because it readily
admitted its mistake and fully cooperated with the investigation.
While we appreciate Dollar's cooperation, the overall facts in this
case do not justify a reduction in the proposed forfeiture amount,
especially when the record evidence shows that Dollar had been in
violation of the Act and our Rules for a significant amount of time,
and because the unauthorized operations caused interference with FAA
operations, a serious public safety concern. Accordingly, as a result
of our review of Dollar's NAL Response, pursuant to the statutory
factors above, and in conjunction with the Forfeiture Policy
Statement, we conclude that Dollar willfully and repeatedly violated
Section 301 of the Act and Section 1.903(a) of the Rules. Considering
the entire record and the factors listed above, we find that a
forfeiture in the amount of $12,000 is warranted.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
9. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Sections 0.111, 0.204,
0.311, 0.314, and 1.80(f)(4) of the Commission's Rules, DTG Operations
Inc., d/b/a Dollar Rent-A-Car, IS LIABLE FOR A MONETARY FORFEITURE in
the amount of twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) for willfully and
repeatedly violating Section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934, as
amended, and Section 1.903(a) of the Commission's rules.
10. Payment of the forfeiture shall be made in the manner provided for in
Section 1.80 of the Rules within thirty (30) calendar days of the
release of this Forfeiture Order. If the forfeiture is not paid within
the period specified, the case may be referred to the U.S. Department
of Justice for collection pursuant to Section 504(a) of the Act.
Payment of the forfeiture must be made by check or similar instrument,
payable to the order of the Federal Communications Commission. The
payment must include the NAL/Account number and FRN referenced above.
Payment by check or money order may be mailed to Federal
Communications Commission, P.O. Box 979088, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
Payment by overnight mail may be sent to U.S. Bank - Government
Lockbox #979088, SL-MO-C2-GL, 1005 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, MO
63101. Payment by wire transfer may be made to ABA Number 021030004,
receiving bank TREAS/NYC, and account number 27000001. For payment by
credit card, an FCC Form 159 (Remittance Advice) must be submitted.
When completing the FCC Form 159, enter the NAL/Account number in
block number 23A (call sign/other ID), and enter the letters "FORF" in
block number 24A (payment type code). Requests for full payment under
an installment plan should be sent to: Chief Financial Officer --
Financial Operations, 445 12th Street, S.W., Room 1-A625, Washington,
D.C. 20554. Please contact the Financial Operations Group Help Desk
at 1-877-480-3201 or Email: ARINQUIRIES@fcc.gov with any questions
regarding payment procedures. DTG Operations Inc., d/b/a Dollar
Rent-A-Car, shall also send electronic notification on the date said
payment is made to WR-Response@fcc.gov
11. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Forfeiture Order shall be
sent by both First Class Mail and Certified Mail, Return Receipt
Requested, to DTG Operations Inc., d/b/a Dollar Rent-A-Car, 5330 E.
31st Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74153.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Rebecca L. Dorch
Regional Director, Western Region
Enforcement Bureau
47 U.S.C. S: 301.
47 C.F.R. S: 1.903(a).
See Letter of Inquiry from William R. Zears, Jr., District Director, San
Diego Office, Western Region, FCC Enforcement Bureau, to Dollar Rent-A-Car
(Jan. 11, 2010) (on file in EB-09-SD-0152).
See Letter from James S. Anderson, Maintenance Manager, DTG Operations,
Inc., to William R. Zears, Jr., District Director, San Diego Office,
Western Region, FCC Enforcement Bureau (filed Mar.10, 2010) (on file in
EB-SD-09-0152) (LOI Response).
Id. at 1.
Id. at 2.
Id. at 1.
DTG Operations Inc. d/b/a Dollar Rent-A-Car, Notice of Apparent Liability
for Forfeiture, 25 FCC Rcd 17144 (Enf. Bur., San Diego Office 2010) (NAL).
See Response of Dollar (filed Dec. 20, 2010) (on file in EB-09-SD-0152)
(Response).
See id. at 1.
47 U.S.C. S: 503(b).
47 C.F.R. S: 1.80.
The Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of Section 1.80
of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture Guidelines, Report and Order,
12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recons. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303 (1999) (Forfeiture
Policy Statement).
47 U.S.C. S: 503(b)(2)(E).
47 U.S.C. S: 301.
47 C.F.R. S: 1.903(a).
See Response at 1.
47 U.S.C. S: 312(f)(1).
NAL, 25 FCC Rcd at 17145 n.7 (quoting Application for Review of Southern
California Broadcasting Co., Memorandum Opinion and Order, 6 FCC Rcd 4387,
4388 (1991)).
Response at 1.
See Five Star Parking d/b/a Five Star Dispatch, Forfeiture Order, 23 FCC
Rcd 2649, 2651 (Enf. Bur. 2008) (responsive and cooperative behavior from
the subject of an investigation is expected and does not justify reduction
or cancelation of a forfeiture).
47 U.S.C. S:S: 301, 503(b); 47 C.F.R. S:S: 0.111, 0.204, 0.311, 0.314,
1.80(f)(4), 1.903(a).
47 U.S.C. S: 504(a).
Federal Communications Commission DA 12-536
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Federal Communications Commission DA 12-536