(1) Eligibility for grants under this section shall be limited to broadcast stations that:

(a) Have a noncommercial educational license granted by the federal communications commission;

(b) Are not eligible under RCW 43.63A.410;

(c) Have a permanent employee who is assigned operational management responsibility for the station and who is not compensated with moneys granted under this section;

(d) Meet the operating schedule requirements of the station’s federal broadcast license;

(e) Have facilities and equipment that allow for program origination and production;

(f) Have a daily broadcast schedule devoted primarily to serving the educational, informational, and cultural needs of the community within its primary service area. The programming shall be intended for a general audience and not designed to further a particular religious philosophy or political organization;

(g) Originate a locally produced program service designed to serve the community;

(h) Maintain financial records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; and

(i) Complete an eligibility criteria statement and annual financial survey pursuant to rules adopted by the *department of community development.

(2)(a) A grant of up to ten thousand dollars per year may be made under this section to those eligible stations operating at least twelve hours per day, three hundred sixty-five days each year, with transmitting facilities developed to the maximum combination of effective radiated power and antenna height possible under the station’s federal communications commission license.

(b) A grant of up to eight thousand dollars per year may be made under this section to those eligible stations operating at least twelve hours per day, three hundred sixty-five days each year, with transmitting facilities not fully developed under federal communications commission rules.

(c) A grant of up to five thousand dollars per year may be made under this section to those eligible stations operating less than twelve hours per day, three hundred sixty-five days each year, with transmitting facilities developed to the maximum combination of effective radiated power and antenna height possible under the station’s federal communications commission license.

(d) A grant of up to one thousand five hundred dollars per year may be made under this section to those eligible stations not meeting the requirements of (a), (b), or (c) of this subsection.

(3) Funding received under this section is specifically for the support of public broadcast operations and facilities improvements which benefit the general community. No funds received under this section may be used for any other purposes by licensees of eligible stations.

(4) Any portion of the appropriation not expended under this section shall be transferred for expenditure under RCW 43.63A.410.

*Reviser’s note: Powers, duties, and functions of the department of community development and the department of trade and economic development were transferred to the department of community, trade, and economic development by 1993 c 280, effective July 1, 1994. The “department of community, trade, and economic development” was renamed the “department of commerce” by 2009 c 565.

Legislative findings—1987 c 308: See note following RCW 43.63A.400.