**Before the**

**FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Queen of Peace Radio, Inc. ) File No. x18ed0003

)

Licensee, WQOP(AM) )

Atlantic Beach, Florida )

Facility ID \# 48393 )

)

For a Forfeiture )

######### FORFEITURE ORDER

**Adopted:** January 28, 2000 **Released:** January 31, 2000

By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:

1\. In this Order, we impose a forfeiture of \$7,000 on Queen of Peace
Radio, Inc., ("Queen of Peace"), licensee of Station WQOP, Atlantic
Beach, Florida, for willful and repeated violations of the main studio
rules, 47 C.F.R. Section 73.1125.

2\. By [Notice of Apparent Liability]{.underline} ("[NAL]{.underline}"),
DA 99-2342, released October 29, 1999, the Chief, Mass Media Bureau,
determined that from August 21, 1997, to January 1, 1999, Queen of Peace
failed to maintain a meaningful staff presence at the main studio for
WQOP. In this regard, although the station's general manager reported to
work at the main studio, spent a substantial amount of time there, and
used the studio as his "home base," no other staff had regular hours at
the station. Consequently, it appeared that there were no licensee
personnel at the station's main studio during certain business hours.
After considering the circumstances in light of the [Forfeiture Policy
Statement]{.underline},[^1] which provides a base forfeiture for a main
studio rule violation of \$7,000, the Chief, Mass Media Bureau proposed
a forfeiture of \$7,000. Queen of Peace has submitted a response, which
requests cancellation of the forfeiture. We deny that request for the
reasons that follow.

3\. Queen of Peace first contends that it did not "willfully" violate
the main studio rule. Queen of Peace declares that prior to its assuming
control of WQOP, it had downloaded information from the Commission's web
site in an effort to help it avoid violating the Commission's rules.
Specifically, Queen of Peace obtained the June 1995 version of the "AM
Broadcast Station Self-Inspection Checklist" ("95 Checklist"). According
to Queen of Peace, the 95 Checklist did not mention staffing
requirements at the main studio. As to staffing, Queen of Peace contends
that it was not until the March 1999 version of the checklist that a
broadcaster would be alerted to the need for having a management and
staff presence at the main studio during an 8-hour period between 8 a.m.
and 6 p.m. Queen of Peace argues that its prior ignorance of the
Commission's requirements renders its failure to comply as inadvertent,
not "willful."

4\. We disagree. At the outset, we note that the checklist on the
Commission's web site was not meant to replace the Commission's rules or
orders. In this regard, the checklist has no legal significance in that
it does not appear in the Commission's rules as one of the printed
publications or documents that could or should be relied upon or
referenced.[^2] Rather, the checklist is nothing more than an informal
means of providing guidance. It was not meant to be an all-inclusive
means of verifying compliance with the Commission's rules. Accordingly,
the absence of information in the 95 Checklist regarding main studio
staffing requirements is irrelevant to the issue of whether Queen of
Peace's violations were willful.

5\. In determining whether or not a violation of the Commission's rules
was "willful," the issue is whether the person "knew he was doing the
act in question, regardless of whether there was any intent to violate
the law." [Jerry Szoka]{.underline}, 14 FCC Rcd 9857, 9865 (1999);
[Southern California Broadcasting Co.]{.underline}, 6 FCC Rcd 4387
(1991). Here, as noted above, Queen of Peace, over a 16-month period
between August 1997 and January 1999, chose to employ only one person on
a full-time basis, while relying on four volunteers to assist in the
station's operation. Information provided by Queen of Peace reveals that
the full-time employee was away from the station from noon to 1 p.m.
each weekday and that he left the station by 3 p.m. each weekday. That
information also shows that the four volunteers spent, collectively, as
much as eight hours and as little as four hours at the main studio
during a typical week, and Queen of Peace does not state when the
volunteers were actually present. Thus, even if we assume that the
volunteers' hours at the main studio never overlapped with each other's
or with the hours of the station's full-time employee, we are
constrained to conclude that Queen of Peace often left the WQOP main
studio unattended during normal business hours. This staffing situation
changed only after Queen of Peace hired a second full-time employee who,
like the station's general manager, maintained his office at the main
studio, and who was present at the main studio each weekday from 1 p.m.
to 5 p.m. It thus appears that Queen of Peace chose to leave the main
studio for WQOP unattended for significant periods between August 1997
and January 1999. Accordingly, we conclude that Queen of Peace's
violation was willful within the meaning of the Communications Act and
the Commission's rules. Moreover, as the foregoing analysis
demonstrates, the violation was also repeated. *See* [Hale Broadcasting
Corp.]{.underline}, 79 FCC 2d 169, 171 (1980) ("repeatedly" means
"simply more than once.")

6\. Even if its acts are viewed as "willful," Queen of Peace argues that
the Commission cannot impose a forfeiture because the main studio rules
do not explicitly include a staffing component that specifies how many
employees a licensee must have at a main studio and when they must be
there. Queen of Peace further contends that the Commission cannot rely
on its decision in [Jones Eastern of the Outer Banks, Inc.]{.underline},
6 FCC Rcd 3615 (1991), *clarified*, 7 FCC Rcd 6800 (1992) ("[Jones
Eastern]{.underline}"), because that decision was never published in the
Federal Register. Queen of Peace continues that, before the Commission
can enforce a minimum staffing level at main studios, it must modify the
main studio rules in the course of a notice and comment rule making
proceeding.

7\. Again, we disagree. In adopting new main studio rules, the
Commission explicitly informed permittees and licensees that compliance
with the main studio rules required maintenance of a meaningful staff
and management presence.[^3] In this regard, the Commission stated:

> A station must maintain a main studio which has the capability
> adequately to meet its function, as discussed above, of serving the
> needs and interests of the residents of the station's community of
> license. To fulfill this function, a station must equip the main
> studio with production and transmission facilities that meet
> applicable standards, maintain continuous program transmission
> capability, and maintain a meaningful management and staff presence.
> Maintenance of production and transmission capability will allow
> broadcasters to continue, at their option, and as the marketplace
> demands, to produce local programs at the studio. A meaningful
> management and staff presence will help expose stations to community
> activities, help them identify community needs and interests and
> thereby meet their community service requirements.

[Main Studio and Program Origination Rules]{.underline}, 3 FCC Rcd at
5026 (footnotes omitted). Thus, contrary to Queen of Peace's argument,
the rules, as clarified, do contain a staffing component, *i.e*.,
maintenance of a meaningful management and staff presence.

8\. Subsequently, in [Jones Eastern]{.underline}, the Commission further
clarified the concept of a meaningful management and staff presence,
when it found unacceptable the staffing proposal advanced by the [Jones
Eastern]{.underline} licensee. In that case, the licensee argued that
its main studio was adequately staffed with a full-time office manager,
who was supervised at various unspecified times by the licensee's
business manager and general manager for a total of six hours per week.
The Commission rejected the proposal, concluding that the licensee's
staffing arrangement would render the concept of a main studio
"virtually meaningless." Accordingly, the Commission specified that, at
a minimum, a main studio must maintain full-time managerial and
full-time staff personnel. [Id]{.underline}., 6 FCC Rcd at 3616. The
Commission also stated that licensees need not have the same staff
person and manager at the studio, as long as there was management and
staff presence there during normal business hours. [Id]{.underline}, at
n. 2. With respect to management personnel, the Commission further
clarified that they need not be "chained to their desks" but that they
would be required to report to work at the main studio on a daily basis,
spend a substantial amount of time there, and use the main studio as
their "home base." [Jones Eastern]{.underline}, 7 FCC Rcd at 6802.
Applying these standards to Queen of Peace, we conclude that a main
studio rule violation occurred at WQOP. Plainly, Queen of Peace's
staffing situation, which left the WQOP main studio unattended at
various times during normal business hours, was not the meaningful
management and staff presence required by the Commission.

9\. Finally, we reject the contention that we cannot rely on the [Jones
Eastern]{.underline} decisions because they have not been published in
the Federal Register. Section 0.445(e) of the Commission's Rules[^4]
provides that Commission decisions, which are published in the FCC
Record and which contain substantive interpretations, "may be relied
upon, used or cited as precedent by the Commission or private parties in
any manner."

10\. Having considered all relevant information[^5] available, we
conclude that the proposed forfeiture of \$7,000 should be paid. In this
regard, we note that while Queen of Peace has a favorable history of
overall compliance, the violation was continuous over a 16-month period.
We therefore conclude that the base forfeiture amount should neither be
adjusted upward nor downward as the adjustment criteria offset each
other.

11\. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. Section 503(b) and
Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80(f)(4) of the Commission's Rules, 47
C.F.R. Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 1.80(f)(4), that Queen of Peace Radio,
Inc., licensee of Station WQOP, Atlantic Beach, Florida, FORFEIT to the
United States the sum of \$7,000 (seven thousand dollars) for willful
and repeated violations of Section 73.1125 of the Commission's Rules, 47
C.F.R. Section 73.1125.[^6]

12\. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Forfeiture Order be sent
by Certified Mail/Return Receipt Requested to counsel for the licensee,
Dennis J. Kelly, Post Office Box 6648, Annapolis, Maryland 21401.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

David H. Solomon

Chief, Enforcement Bureau

[^1]: 12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), *recon. denied*, FCC 99-407, released
    December 28, 1999.

[^2]: *See* Sections 0.411 -- 0.423 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R.
    Sections 0.411 -- 0.423.

[^3]: [Main Studio and Program Origination Rules]{.underline}, 3 FCC Rcd
    5024 (1988); 53 FR 32899 (August 29, 1988).

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. Section 0.445(e).

[^5]: ^?^ In its response, Queen of Peace suggests that our enforcement
    activities are far more aggressive against religious broadcasters
    such as itself than they are against broadcasters who air "The
    Howard Stern Show," which Queen of Peace describes as obscene and
    indecent. Suffice it to say this argument lacks merit. The
    Commission has taken action repeatedly against licensees that have
    aired indecent programming and, when appropriate, we will continue
    to do so. *E.g.*, [WQAM License Limited Partnership]{.underline},
    FCC 99-187, released July 22, 1999 ([Notice of Apparent
    Liability]{.underline} for \$35,000 forfeiture); [Infinity
    Broadcasting Corporation]{.underline}, 9 FCC Rcd 6442 (1994)
    ([Notice of Apparent Liability]{.underline} for \$200,000
    forfeiture, subsequent history omitted).

[^6]: Payment of the forfeiture may be made by credit card through the
    Commission's Credit and Debt Management Center at (202) 418-1995 or
    by mailing a check or similar instrument, payable to the order of
    the Federal Communications Commission, to the Federal Communications
    Commission, P.O. Box 73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482. The
    payment should note the file number referenced above.