WASHINGTON – A sweeping overhaul of the nation’s auto safety laws is stalled — and faces an uncertain fate when Congress returns after its August recess.

Auto safety advocates urged Congress during a press conference Wednesday to move quickly on an overhaul in the wake of Toyota Motor Corp.’s recall of 8.5 million vehicles worldwide over sudden acceleration concerns, The Detroit News reported.

Congress has held eight hearings on auto safety issues, and House and Senate committees have approved similar versions of legislation. Automakers, however, are seeking major changes.

As public attention has faded from Toyota’s problems and Congress has turned its attention to issues like the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, some advocates are worried that Congress will go home without getting the auto safety measure passed.

“It’s time for Congress now to ignore and oppose efforts by industry lobbyists to weaken the central provisions to prevent another Toyota fiasco,” said Jacqueline Gillan, vice president for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

None of the three members of Congress who was scheduled to attend the event showed up.

“We’re going to try to move it when we come back after the August recess,” Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce, said in an interview Wednesday.

Waxman’s committee in May approved a watered-down version of a bill introduced in the spring. The bill requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to take action on a host of new regulations, including:

• Fining auto executives who submit false reports $5,000 per day or up to $5 million for a single recall.
• Increasing the cap for fines against automakers to $200 million, or $25,000 per vehicle — up from the current maximum of $16.4 million per recall.
• Requiring NHTSA to start developing rules on the placement of pedals, to avoid obstructions, within 18 months. Toyota recalled 5.4 million vehicles over concerns that floor mats would trap pedals.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers — the trade group representing Detroit’s Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp. and seven others — is urging significant changes to the measure.

“There are still a few issues in the bill that need to be addressed as it moves forward,” said Wade Newton, a spokesman for the group. “We hope to continue to work with Congress to resolve these issues as the bill proceeds.”

WASHINGTON – The House held its first hearing on a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s auto safety laws Thursday, but Democrats face a tight timetable to win passage before Congress goes home this summer, The Detroit News reported.

Republicans said the draft written by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., goes too far and shouldn’t impose a per vehicle fee to pay for a $100 million increase in funding for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Waxman’s bill would mandate auto black boxes and brake override systems, and grant NHTSA the power to order an immediate stop of sales and production of vehicles that pose an “imminent danger.”

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said that idea would “short circuit” the recall process. He also questioned whether the bill was aimed at helping trial lawyers win cases.

The bill is “driving down the wrong road,” Scalise said.

The Waxman bill would double NHTSA’s enforcement budget by adding a $3 fee on all new car sales, allow consumers the right to appeal the rejection of their safety complaints and hike penalties for automakers and executives caught violating auto safety laws. A similar measure has been introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

Automakers object to some proposals, saying they go too far and impose new mandates too quickly. They back requirements for extended event data recorders and brake override systems.

Several Republicans said the new tax is unnecessary and questioned what NHTSA would do with an extra $100 million.

Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the bill was aimed at restoring “the faith of the driving public.” He said drivers had been “severely rattled” by Toyota Motor Corp.’s recall of 8.5 million vehicles worldwide over sudden acceleration concerns.

The new event data recorders proposed for all vehicles would collect far more data than current ones that are in some vehicles — 60 seconds before a crash and 15 seconds after it. Republicans raised privacy concerns about mandating the devices without more discussion.

Toyota recently agreed to pay $16.4 million for delaying a recall of 2.3 million vehicles over sticky pedal concerns by at least four months. If the Waxman bill had been law, NHTSA could have imposed a $69 billion penalty.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, called the proposed hike in fines — including up to $250 million for individual auto executives — “overkill.”

NHTSA administrator David Strickland took no position on any of the bill’s new mandates and said the Obama administration is still reviewing the bill.

But he said the Waxman bill would “significantly increase the agency’s leverage in dealing with manufacturers,” and getting imminent hazard authority “would bring NHTSA’s authority into line with that of many other safety and health agencies.”