The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish a proposed rule in the January 17, 2017, Federal Register that would establish a risk-based screening process and criteria that EPA will use to identify chemical substances as either High-Priority Substances for risk evaluation, or Low-Priority Substances for which risk evaluations are not warranted at the time.  The pre-publication version of the proposed rule describes the processes for identifying potential candidates for prioritization, selecting a candidate, screening that candidate against certain criteria, formally initiating the prioritization process, providing opportunities for public comment, and proposing and finalizing designations of priority.  EPA notes that prioritization is the initial step in a new process of existing chemical substance review and risk management activity established under recent amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  Publication of the notice will begin a 60-day comment period.  More information on the final rule will be available in our forthcoming memorandum, which will be available on our website under the key phrase TSCA.