The FCC and Honolulu station KNDI(AM) reached a settlement that ends an investigation and cancels a penalty concerning the operational readiness of the station’s EAS equipment.
As a condition of the agreement, KNDI will initiate EAS announcements in 11 ethnic Hawaiian languages and implement an EAS compliance plan that will include training of employees about to use EAS equipment.
The case stems from 2006 when the Enforcement Bureau’s Honolulu office monitored the station, licensed to Broadcast House of the Pacific, and found that KNDI could not re-transmit the required monthly EAS test.
During an FCC inspection, agents stated the EAS equipment was installed but not working. The receiver was only able to receive an audio signal from one of two assigned monitoring sources and the log did not reflect what steps the station took to fix the problem.
The station contract engineer confirmed to the FCC the equipment had a faulty relay that prevented the encoder/decoder from re-transmitting any tests, the commission said. Also, the FCC found that a power cord for a portable radio that provided the audio source for channel one of the EAS equipment was unplugged. The commission earlier found the station apparently liable and proposed an $8,000 fine.
Now the station and the FCC have crafted a Consent Decree that does not determine whether or not KNDI is at fault. Under the agreement, KNDI will make a voluntary contribution to the U.S. Treasury of $1,000 and the commission stops its investigation.
