(AP) — The Maunakea Management Board this week approved a plan for decommissioning a telescope atop Hawaii’s tallest peak. The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory is the first of five summit observatories scheduled to be decommissioned in exchange for the planned construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope at Mauna Kea. The Hawaiʻi Tribune-Herald reports the plan calls for spending about $4 million to restore the site to pre-development conditions. It could be completed by the end of 2022. The board voted unanimously to approve the draft assessment and application. Planners hope to win a permit from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources in December or January.

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