The FCC upheld an earlier fine of $25,000 for A-O Broadcasting, Inc., licensee of former FM Station KTMN, Cloudcroft, New Mexico, for violating radiofrequency radiation exposure limits, and for failing to install and operate EAS equipment.
The commission said the penalty, originally levied in 2003, was the first time the agency imposed a monetary forfeiture for violation of its RFR exposure limits.
The station’s antenna was on a U.S. Forest Service lookout tower
The case stemmed from 2001when an agent from the Denver field office investigated in response to a complaint and found at 40% of its power, areas accessible to the public outside a fence surrounding the tower exceeded the FCC’s RFR limits by more than 200%. Areas on the stairway of the tower exceeded the RFR limits by more than 1,400%, stated the agency in its order.
A-O asked the commission to reconsider its decision in 2004. The FCC said A-O’s arguments, that its station was silent when the agents visited, that it could not pay the fine and was within the grace period to install EAS equipment, did not hold up. The agency
denied A-O’s petition for reconsideration and upheld the fine.
FCC Affirms $25,000 Fine for A-O
FCC Affirms $25,000 Fine for A-O
