[1] In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) station database (CDBS), broadcast STA applications have a prefix of BSTA (general), BLSTA (legal), BESTA (engineering), or BLESTA (both).
[1] The FCC typically required that silence be for reasons beyond the operator's control, such as total equipment failure or loss of programming, and asked for plans to return the station to air.
Stations that are silent can also apply for an operational STA to resume broadcasting from a temporary facility, to avoid losing its license after one continuous year of silence.
[2] This silent/operational STA process presents a loophole in that it can be used to work around the Telecommunications Act indefinitely, and such STAs are normally granted with little oversight.
Station owner Birach Broadcasting Corporation has claimed it is stuck with the temporary facilities as it has been unable to get zoning approval for a new transmitter site.