A bill handing stewardship of the Big Island mountain to a new governing agency heads for a final vote.

If the bill clears a final floor vote in the House, it heads to the Senate where it faces potential opposition, including from the chair of a key Senate committee.

Native Hawaiians and environmentalists are calling for a cautious approach to protect cultural sites and biological resources in the decommissioning process.

Hawaiians are not unanimous in their opposition to the telescope and there is no religious authority to make decisions.

A bill lawmakers plan to introduce next session would create a new state agency to oversee Mauna Kea.

Updated: But the researchers said that funding should be contingent on better engagement with Native Hawaiians on Mauna Kea and other conditions.

Doug Simons is taking over the Institute for Astronomy at a critical time for the agency and for astronomy in the state.

More telescopes are expected to be decommissioned according to a plan that seeks to do a better job of managing the mauna.

The ability of counties to render aid to each other is also at issue in the case that stems from protests over the Thirty Meter Telescope in 2019.

Protest leaders, UH officials and astronomers will all have seats on the panel.