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CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has decided to launch a government task force for restructuring the struggling U.S. auto industry instead of naming a "car czar" with sweeping powers, a senior administration official said Sunday.

Obama is appointing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as his "designee" for overseeing auto bailout loans and as co-head of the new high-level panel together with White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers, the official said.

But Obama, who took office on Jan. 20 and last week won congressional approval of a $787 billion economic stimulus program, has dropped the idea of having a single appointee empowered to handle the politically sensitive task of revamping America's once-mighty auto sector.

"There is no 'car czar,"' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

There was no immediate word on when or how Obama, due to return to Washington on Monday after spending the long Presidents Day holiday weekend back home in Chicago, planned to unveil his strategy for dealing with the auto crisis.

But General Motors Corp (nyse: GM - news - people ) and Chrysler LLC, are required to submit new turnaround plans by Tuesday showing how they can be made viable after receiving $13.4 billion in emergency aid in the final weeks of the Bush administration.

IBM PC Keyboard Scan Codes

Char.  Decimal Pair     Hex Pair    Char.  Decimal Pair    Hex Pair

ALT-A     (00,30)    (0x00,0x1e)    ALT-B    (00,48)    (0x00,0x30)

ALT-C     (00,46)    (0x00,0x2e)    ALT-D    (00,32)    (0x00,0x20)

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ALT-G     (00,34)    (0x00,0x22)    ALT-H    (00,35)    (0x00,0x23)

ALT-I     (00,23)    (0x00,0x17)    ALT-J    (00,36)    (0x00,0x24)

ALT-K     (00,37)    (0x00,0x25)    ALT-L    (00,38)    (0x00,0x26)

ALT-M     (00,50)    (0x00,0x32)    ALT-N    (00,49)    (0x00,0x31)

ALT-O     (00,24)    (0x00,0x18)    ALT-P    (00,25)    (0x00,0x19)

ALT-Q     (00,16)    (0x00,0x10)    ALT-R    (00,19)    (0x00,0x13)

ALT-S     (00,31)    (0x00,0x1a)    ALT-T    (00,20)    (0x00,0x14)

ALT-U     (00,22)    (0x00,0x16)    ALT-V    (00,47)    (0x00,0x2f)

ALT-W     (00,17)    (0x00,0x11)    ALT-X    (00,45)    (0x00,0x2d)

ALT-Y     (00,21)    (0x00,0x15)    ALT-Z    (00,44)    (0x00,0x2c)

PgUp      (00,73)    (0x00,0x49)    PgDn     (00,81)    (0x00,0x51)

Home      (00,71)    (0x00,0x47)    End      (00,79)    (0x00,0x4f)

UpArrw    (00,72)    (0x00,0x48)    DnArrw   (00,80)    (0x00,0x50)

LftArrw   (00,75)    (0x00,0x4b)    RtArrw   (00,77)    (0x00,0x4d)

F1        (00,59)    (0x00,0x3b)    F2       (00,60)    (0x00,0x3c)

F3        (00,61)    (0x00,0x3d)    F4       (00,62)    (0x00,0x3e)

F5        (00,63)    (0x00,0x3f)    F6       (00,64)    (0x00,0x40)

F7        (00,65)    (0x00,0x41)    F8       (00,66)    (0x00,0x42)

F9        (00,67)    (0x00,0x43)    F10      (00,68)    (0x00,0x44)

F11       (00,133)   (0x00,0x85)    F12      (00,134)   (0x00,0x86)

ALT-F1    (00,104)   (0x00,0x68)    ALT-F2   (00,105)   (0x00,0x69)

ALT-F3    (00,106)   (0x00,0x6a)    ALT-F4   (00,107)   (0x00,0x6b)

ALT-F5    (00,108)   (0x00,0x6c)    ALT-F6   (00,109)   (0x00,0x6d)

ALT-F7    (00,110)   (0x00,0x6e)    ALT-F8   (00,111)   (0x00,0x6f)

ALT-F9    (00,112)   (0x00,0x70)    ALT-F10  (00,113)   (0x00,0x71)

Federal regulators set a safety threshold Friday for the industrial chemical melamine that is greater than the amount of contamination found so far in U.S.-made infant formula.

Food and Drug Administration officials set a threshold of 1 part per million of melamine in formula, provided a related chemical isn't present. They insisted the formulas are safe.

The setting of the standard comes days after The Associated Press reported that FDA tests had found traces of melamine in the infant formula of one major U.S. manufacturer and cyanuric acid, a chemical relative, in the formula of a second major maker. The contaminated samples, which both measured at levels below the new standard, had been analyzed several weeks ago.

The FDA had stated in early October that it was unable to set a safety contamination level for melamine in infant formula.

Though Dr. Stephen Sundlof, FDA's director of food safety, said Friday that there had been no new scientific studies since October that would give regulators more safety data, he said the agency was confident in setting the 1 part per million level for either of the chemicals alone. He emphasized that neither of the two tainted samples had both contaminants.

He had no ready explanation for why the level wasn't set earlier.

Sundlof said the lack of dual contamination was key because studies so far show dangerous health effects only when both chemicals are present.

The agency still will not set a safety level for melamine if cyanuric acid is also present, he said.

Both the new safety level and the amount of the chemical found in U.S.-made infant formula are far below the amounts of melamine added to infant formula in China that have been blamed for killing at least three babies and making thousands ill.

"The levels were so low ... that they do not cause a health risk to infants," Sundlof said. "Parents using infant formula should continue using U.S.-manufactured infant formula. Switching away from one of these infant formulas to alternate diets or homemade formulas could result in infants not receiving the complete nutrition required for proper growth and development."

Reacting to news of the contaminated formulas, members of Congress, a national consumer group and the Illinois attorney general have demanded a national recall, something the FDA said made no sense because it had no evidence suggesting that the formula would be dangerous for babies at the levels of contamination found.

After saying it made an error in its data, the FDA on Wednesday produced these results: Nestle's Good Start Supreme Infant Formula with Iron had two positive tests for melamine on one sample; Mead Johnson's Infant Formula Powder, Enfamil LIPIL with Iron had three positive tests on one sample for cyanuric acid.

Separately, a third major formula maker, Abbott Laboratories, told the AP that in-house tests had detected trace levels of melamine in its infant formula.

Those three formula makers manufacture more than 90 percent of all infant formula produced in the United States.

The FDA said it had analyzed 74 samples and was continuing to examine 13 more.

The agency had left the impression of a zero tolerance on Oct. 3 when it stated: "FDA is currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns."

The FDA and other experts said the melamine contamination in U.S.-made formula had occurred during the manufacturing process, rather than intentionally. The U.S. government quietly began testing domestically produced infant formula in September, soon after problems with melamine-spiked formula surfaced in China.

Melamine can legally be used in some food packaging, and can rub off into food from there. It's also part of a cleaning solution used on some food processing equipment.

There is a gap between the concentration that the FDA detected in formula and the agency's estimate of how much melamine could contaminate food from the manufacturing process. The expected contamination from processing -- 15 parts per billion -- is about one-tenth the amount that the agency has detected in infant formula. FDA officials have not responded to questions from the AP this week about how that gap might be explained.

The agency said it is continuing research on animals to see the effects of ingesting both melamine and cyanuric acid.

The plan, which Obama announced yesterday during the weekly Democratic radio address, is more expansive -- and undoubtedly more expensive -- than anything proposed so far to revive the nation's deteriorating economy. Obama said the darkening economic outlook demands that Washington act "swiftly and boldly" to diminish the risk that the nation "could lose millions of jobs next year."

"The news this week has only reinforced the fact that we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions," Obama said, citing chaotic financial markets, rising jobless claims and the specter of a "deflationary spiral that could increase our massive debt even further." He provided few details and no price tag, but said his economic team is working on "a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office."

While cast as a response to a rapidly worsening crisis, the plan could enable Obama to shift massive sums to domestic priorities that Democrats say have long been neglected, such as health care and education. It also could provide seed money to reshape major U.S. industries, hastening the production of wind and solar energy and fuel-efficient cars, for example. Obama said the plan would be "a down payment on the type of reform my administration will bring to Washington."

Obama has scheduled his second formal news conference since the election for tomorrow to introduce his economic team, including Federal Bank of New York President Timothy F. Geithner, Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary. According to Democratic sources, Harvard economist Lawrence Summers, a Clinton administration Treasury chief, will be named director of the National Economic Council. In this capacity, Summers will coordinate the Obama administration's overall economic policy.

Obama's advisers are coordinating with Democrats in Congress to craft a proposal intended to spur economic activity. Congressional leaders have said they hope to pass it shortly after the new Congress convenes next year and have it on Obama's desk soon after he takes office on Jan. 20.

Obama's address echoed many of the same ideas Democrats on Capitol Hill have been advocating for nearly a year.

Obama said his plan would launch "a two-year nationwide effort to jump-start job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy. We'll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels," as well as producing fuel-efficient cars.

"These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis; these are long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long," he said.

Economists have called on the federal government to spend at least $150 billion and as much as $500 billion to ease the effects of what is expected to be the most painful and prolonged recession since World War II. A stimulus package signed by President Bush in February cost $168 billion.

House Democrats have been talking about a new package worth at least $150 billion, and possibly much more. During the presidential campaign, Obama proposed a two-year, $175 billion stimulus package with money for cash-strapped state governments and infrastructure projects as well as a $1,000 tax credit for working families.

The campaign did not release an estimate of the number of jobs that his latest proposal would create. But congressional aides who have been involved in developing stimulus proposals said that any plan to create 2.5 million jobs is likely to be significantly larger -- probably well over $200 billion, or between 1 and 2 percent of the gross domestic product.