The Environmental Protection Agency is set to take a big step forward Thursday toward implementing a contentious “secret science” rule, a move that critics fear will undermine the scientific process in favor of cherry-picking research that supports specific outcomes.

The “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science” rulemaking, as it is formally titled, would require EPA’s scientific studies to be independently verified through a peer-reviewed process outside the agency. It wouldn’t address any one issue or regulation, but rather would undergird the science behind much of what the agency does.