The Planning Commission certified the environmental report for the cement plant and limestone quarry between Tehachapi and Mojave on July 23, 2026. The approval replaces a 1,542-acre plan from 1979.
The CalPortland Mojave reclamation plan is a Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment for CalPortland Company’s limestone quarry and cement plant, south of Oak Creek Road and about 6 miles southeast of Tehachapi in unincorporated Kern County, California. It replaces a 1,542-acre plan from 1979 with one covering about 4,367 acres and roughly 200 more years of mining. The Kern County Planning Commission certified the environmental impact report (EIR) and approved the plan on July 23, 2026.
Key takeaways
- The Kern County Planning Commission approved CalPortland’s Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment and certified its EIR on July 23, 2026. The county filed its Notice of Determination on July 24, 2026.
- The amendment expands the reclamation plan from about 1,542 acres, approved in 1979, to about 4,367 acres. CalPortland expects mining to be completed around the year 2222.
- Mining itself is already allowed. Kern County determined on March 15, 2021, that mining and processing are a legal nonconforming (vested) use on about 6,658 acres CalPortland owns.
- From 2016 to 2020 the operation averaged about 1.52 million tons of cement a year. The county says the approval does not change production levels, mining methods or cement plant throughput.
- The EIR found significant and unavoidable project-level impacts on biological resources, so the commission adopted a Statement of Overriding Considerations.
CalPortland Mojave reclamation plan at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Project | Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment (CalPortland Mojave cement plant and limestone quarry) |
| Location | South of Oak Creek Road and east of Tehachapi Willow Springs Road, about 6 miles southeast of Tehachapi and 7.25 miles west of Mojave, unincorporated Kern County (16 private parcels, APNs 237-032-01, 237-053-01 and 237-071-02 through 237-102-01) |
| Applicant and owner | CalPortland Company, a subsidiary of Japan’s Taiheiyo Cement Corporation |
| Jurisdiction | Kern County Planning Commission (lead agency); Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department |
| Case numbers | CUP No. 21, Map 197; CUP No. 46, Map 198 (PP18108; PLN18-01957); SCH 2024081205 |
| Size | About 4,367 acres in the amended reclamation plan, up from about 1,542 acres; vested mining use on about 6,658 acres |
| Use | Reclamation of a limestone quarry and cement plant: recontouring, slope stabilization, revegetation, monitoring and eventual facility removal; end use is open space |
| Mine life | About 200 more years; mining expected to be completed around 2222 |
| Status | Approved July 23, 2026; EIR certified with a Statement of Overriding Considerations; Notice of Determination filed July 24, 2026 |
| Next step | Mining continues at current production levels under the new plan; state wildlife permits may be needed as mining reaches new areas |
What did Kern County approve for the CalPortland Mojave reclamation plan?
On July 23, 2026, the Kern County Planning Commission approved the Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment for CalPortland’s cement plant and limestone quarry. The commission certified an EIR, adopted mitigation measures and a monitoring program, and adopted a Statement of Overriding Considerations. The county’s Notice of Determination reached the State Clearinghouse on July 24.
A reclamation plan does not authorize mining. Under California’s Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, it sets out how mined land returns to a stable, usable condition. The Draft EIR filing describes the work as “recontouring, stabilizing, revegetation, and monitoring of final slopes and disturbed mining areas,” plus reclaiming roads and, at the end, “removal of the processing and cement plant facilities.”
The mining itself is already allowed. According to the August 2024 Initial Study, the county determined on March 15, 2021, that mining and processing are a legal nonconforming (vested) use on about 6,658 acres owned by CalPortland. The amendment keeps the roughly 1,542 acres covered by the 1979 plan and adds about 2,825 acres, for a total of about 4,367 acres.
The county’s Notice of Availability says the plan would “increase the life of the mine by approximately 200 years” with no change to production levels, mining systems or cement plant throughput. The Initial Study says CalPortland expects mining to finish around 2222, with the land reclaimed to open space.
The EIR and hearing timeline
- Aug. 28, 2024: Notice of Preparation filed; comments closed Sept. 27, 2024.
- April 14, 2026: Draft EIR filed; public review ran April 17 to June 2, 2026 (45 days).
- July 8, 2026: Final EIR responses to comments filed with the State Clearinghouse.
- July 9, 2026: Planning Commission hearing, which the county’s project page labels a continued hearing, with a second hearing listed for July 23.
- July 23, 2026: Commission certifies the EIR and approves the plan.
- July 24, 2026: Notice of Determination filed.
The county has not published the vote count, final conditions of approval or public testimony.
Where is the CalPortland Mojave cement plant?
The plant sits south of Oak Creek Road and east of Tehachapi Willow Springs Road, about 6 miles southeast of the City of Tehachapi and 7.25 miles west of the community of Mojave, according to the Notice of Determination. The plan covers 16 privately owned parcels. State filings list Oak Creek and several ephemeral drainages as waterways on the site, along with a Union Pacific Railroad line, and the Initial Study says the plant has direct rail access.
The Notice of Determination lists A (Exclusive Agriculture), A WE (Exclusive Agriculture, Wind Energy Combining) and A-1 (Limited Agriculture) zoning on the plan area. The Initial Study also shows M-3 heavy industrial zoning, with general plan designations ranging from heavy industrial to mineral and petroleum. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) describes the setting as including Mojave juniper woodland, Joshua tree woodland and riparian channels.
A competitor is close by. The Federal Trade Commission described the Tehachapi cement plant as “just fourteen miles away” from CalPortland’s operation.
How old is the Mojave cement plant?
The plant dates to the 1950s, though sources disagree on the year. The company, then called California Portland Cement Company, “acquired the majority of the project site properties in 1953 and commenced surface mining operations and cement production in 1954,” according to the Initial Study. Other sources date the opening to 1955 or 1956. The Center for Land Use Interpretation says the company built a nine-mile rail spur to the main line at Mojave. It also says cement from the plant went into Dodger Stadium, the Bonaventure Hotel and the second Los Angeles Aqueduct.
Kern County approved a reclamation plan for the facility in 1979, covering about 1,542 acres. In April 2022, CalPortland converted the plant’s production to a portland-limestone cement sold as ADVANCEMENT HS, saying the change cuts carbon emissions by 10% per ton. The company put output at about 1.3 million tons of cement a year.
The Initial Study gives a closer look at volume. From 2016 to 2020, the operation averaged 1,931,731 tons of limestone, 2,206,425 tons of overburden and 1,519,962 tons of cement a year. The two cement figures cover different periods and may use different definitions.
Who owns CalPortland?
CalPortland is a subsidiary of Japan’s Taiheiyo Cement Corporation. It began as the California Portland Cement Company, incorporated in Los Angeles County in 1891, and took its current name in 2008, according to Wikipedia. The same entry says Japan’s Onoda Cement bought the company from CalMat in 1990 for $316 million, and Onoda later merged into what is now Taiheiyo. CalPortland describes itself as a producer of cement, ready-mixed concrete, aggregates, concrete products and asphalt in the western U.S. and Canada.
In 2015, CalPortland bought the Oro Grande cement plant in the High Desert, plus rail terminals in National City and Stockton, from Martin Marietta. In Kern County, it also holds approval for the Gem Hill Quarry near Rosamond, approved Nov. 10, 2022. That volcanic tuff operation covers 82 acres within a 210-acre boundary and is permitted for 500,000 tons a year over 30 years.
What was the Tehachapi plant deal the FTC stopped?
CalPortland and Taiheiyo agreed to buy Martin Marietta’s Tehachapi cement plant, a distribution terminal and other assets for $350 million. The deal was abandoned after an FTC investigation. The agency said on April 28, 2023 that it would have cut the number of cement suppliers in Southern California from five to four. The FTC said CalPortland “would have owned half of all cement plants serving the Southern California market.”
Peru-based UNACEM then completed its purchase of the Tehachapi plant from Martin Marietta in November 2023 for $317 million. The two neighboring plants remain under separate owners.
How many people work at the CalPortland Mojave plant?
No total headcount has been published. Mojave Desert News reported in June 2025 that about 50 of the plant’s 107 union employees, represented by International Union of Operating Engineers Local 12, were picketing on Oak Creek Road. A worker told the paper hourly pay ranged from about $26 for skilled laborers to about $40 for skilled electricians.
The strike began June 8, 2025. Tehachapi News reported it ended June 24 when the union accepted the company’s offer; final contract terms were not published.
The reclamation approval is not a hiring announcement. The Initial Study says existing and continued mining “will continue to utilize approximately 21 employees,” with about 16 typically working within the mine site at a given time. The plan’s value for East Kern payrolls is duration: it settles the reclamation framework for a plant expected to keep quarrying for two more centuries.
What does the CalPortland Mojave plant mean for Kern construction costs?
The plan adds no cement capacity, but it settles a long-term land-use question for one of Southern California’s few cement sources. Prices have climbed. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 put the average U.S. mill price at an estimated $160 per metric ton in 2025, up from $127 in 2021, or about 26%. California ranks among the four leading cement-producing states, and net imports equaled about 21% of U.S. apparent consumption in 2025.
Supply serving Southern California is concentrated. When the FTC reviewed the Tehachapi deal, it counted five suppliers, two of them running plants 14 miles apart in East Kern. Holly Vedova, then director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, called cement “a key component of Southern California’s construction and infrastructure industries.”
Aggregate, the sand, gravel and crushed stone used in concrete and road base, is a separate supply chain; the Mojave quarry mines limestone for cement. The California Geological Survey’s April 2026 update found the Bakersfield production-consumption region holds about 1,690 million tons of permitted reserves against about 207 million tons of 50-year demand. The neighboring Palmdale region has about 120 million tons against 537 million, or 11 to 20 years of supply. The survey calls aggregate “a low unit-value, high-bulk-weight commodity” and says doubling a 25-mile haul to 50 miles would roughly double fuel use and emissions.
What does it mean for industrial land in Kern County?
For commercial real estate, this is an owner-user heavy industrial operation, not new leasable space. Thousands of acres east of Tehachapi stay committed to mining and, eventually, open space, and the region keeps a local source of a core building material. For background on how the county zones this kind of land, see our guide to industrial zoning in Bakersfield and Kern County.
The second point matters for the development pipeline. A national brokerage’s Q2 2026 Bakersfield industrial report put availability at 10.1%, with about 6.8 million square feet available and asking rent averaging $0.71 per square foot per month, triple net. Only one building, about 510,000 square feet in Arvin, was under construction, against 13.1 million square feet proposed. A regional brokerage’s Q2 2026 report measured vacancy at 9.55%, down from 10.90% in Q1, with 1,489,196 square feet of net absorption over 12 months. Our primer on reading an industrial market report explains those terms.
Developers deciding whether that proposed space pencils out will price concrete, and local cement and aggregate supply is one input behind those bids. East Kern is also adding a rebar source: Pacific Steel Group’s Mojave Micro Mill broke ground in March 2025 between Mojave and Rosamond.
What concerns and conditions surround the Mojave Life of Mine plan?
The Draft EIR found significant and unavoidable impacts in one area: biological resources at the project level, according to the State Clearinghouse summary. That finding is why the commission had to adopt a Statement of Overriding Considerations, which states that a project’s benefits outweigh impacts that cannot be fully mitigated.
The same summary listed three areas of controversy: potential conflicts with the California High-Speed Rail alignment, impacts to plant and animal species and streams, and “concerns regarding potential impacts to solar power generation in the vicinity.” For the rail project, see our look at the high-speed rail Bakersfield station.
CDFW weighed in twice. In October 2024 comments on the Notice of Preparation, the agency said species-specific mitigation advice “would be speculative” at that stage. It asked the EIR to evaluate “whether the reclamation activities would actually be able to feasibly restore the habitat.” Its June 3, 2026 letter on the Draft EIR named species including the Mohave ground squirrel, Swainson’s hawk, desert tortoise, golden eagle, western burrowing owl, Crotch’s bumble bee and western Joshua tree. It recommended a Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement and, where take cannot be avoided, an Incidental Take Permit.
What happens next for the CalPortland Mojave reclamation plan?
Day-to-day operations do not change. The approval sets the reclamation standards CalPortland must meet as it opens new mining areas and, eventually, as it removes the cement plant and returns the land to open space.
Filing the Notice of Determination on July 24, 2026, generally started a 30-day window to sue under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which closed in late August. CEQAnet listed no later filings for the project, and no lawsuit or appeal has been reported.
CDFW recommended a streambed alteration agreement and, where take cannot be avoided, incidental take permits. For the market, the bigger signal is that the plant’s reclamation plan now matches a mine life running into the 2220s. Our guide to industrial land entitlements and CEQA in Kern County covers the process for East Kern land.
Frequently asked questions
What is the CalPortland Mojave reclamation plan?
It is the Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment, the document that governs how CalPortland will restore land at its limestone quarry and cement plant between Tehachapi and Mojave. It grows the 1979 plan from about 1,542 acres to about 4,367 acres. The Kern County Planning Commission approved it on July 23, 2026.
Where is the CalPortland Mojave cement plant?
The plant and quarry are in unincorporated Kern County, south of Oak Creek Road and east of Tehachapi Willow Springs Road. County filings put the site about 6 miles southeast of Tehachapi and 7.25 miles west of Mojave. The plan covers 16 private parcels, and the site has direct rail access.
Does the approval expand cement production at the Mojave plant?
No. The county’s notice says the amendment changes no production levels, mining systems or cement plant throughput. Mining is already a vested use on about 6,658 acres, so the approval governs how disturbed land is reclaimed. The 2016 to 2020 average was about 1.52 million tons of cement a year.
How long will the CalPortland Mojave mine operate?
The county says the plan adds about 200 years to the mine’s life. CalPortland’s Initial Study expects mining to finish around 2222. After that, the plan calls for removing the processing and cement plant facilities and returning the land to open space.
Who owns CalPortland?
Japan’s Taiheiyo Cement Corporation is CalPortland’s parent. The business started in 1891 as California Portland Cement and today makes cement, concrete, aggregates and asphalt in the western U.S. and Canada. Its California cement plants include Mojave and Oro Grande.
How many people work at the CalPortland Mojave plant?
No total headcount is published. Mojave Desert News reported 107 union employees at the plant in June 2025, represented by IUOE Local 12. The county’s Initial Study counts about 21 employees on mining operations. The approval does not add jobs.
What environmental impacts did the Mojave Life of Mine EIR find?
The EIR found significant and unavoidable project-level impacts on biological resources, which led to the Statement of Overriding Considerations. Concerns also included the high-speed rail alignment, wildlife, streams and nearby solar generation. CDFW flagged the Mohave ground squirrel, desert tortoise, golden eagle and western Joshua tree.
Questions about how the CalPortland Mojave plant, construction material costs or East Kern heavy industrial land could affect your property, lease or development plans? Call Kern CRE at 855-KERN-CRE (855-537-6273) or contact us. Get Kern County CRE news monthly: subscribe to the Kern CRE report.
Sources
- Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment Project, Notice of Determination, SCH 2024081205, CEQAnet (State Clearinghouse), received July 24, 2026.
- Notice of Determination, Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Project (CUP 21, Map 197; CUP 46, Map 198), Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, July 2026.
- Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment Project, Draft EIR, SCH 2024081205, CEQAnet, received April 14, 2026.
- Notice of Availability, Draft EIR, Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment Project, Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, April 2026.
- Summary Form for Electronic Document Submittal, Mojave Life of Mine RPA Draft EIR, State Clearinghouse, April 2026.
- Response to Comments (Final EIR Chapter 7), CEQAnet, received July 8, 2026.
- Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment Project, Notice of Preparation, CEQAnet, received Aug. 28, 2024.
- Notice of Preparation and Initial Study, Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment Project, Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department, August 2024.
- Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment Project (EIR volumes and Planning Commission hearings), Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department.
- Comments on the Notice of Preparation, Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment Project, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oct. 4, 2024.
- Comments on the Draft EIR, Mojave Life of Mine Reclamation Plan Amendment Project, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, June 3, 2026.
- Statement Regarding the Termination of CalPortland Company’s Attempted Acquisition of Assets Owned by Rival Cement Producer Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., Federal Trade Commission, April 28, 2023.
- UNACEM completes acquisition of Tehachapi cement plant, Global Cement, Nov. 2, 2023.
- CalPortland Converts Mojave Cement Plant Production to Portland-Limestone Cement, CalPortland via PR Newswire, April 14, 2022.
- Taiheiyo Cement USA and CalPortland Announce Completion of California Expansion, CalPortland, Sept. 30, 2015.
- CalPortland Company, Wikipedia.
- California Portland Cement Company’s Mojave Plant (Land Use Database), Center for Land Use Interpretation, undated.
- Gem Hill Quarry Project by CalPortland Company (PP21404), Notice of Determination, SCH 2021110076, CEQAnet, received Nov. 16, 2022.
- CalPortland employees strike; union contract ended in March, Mojave Desert News, June 10, 2025.
- Strike at CalPortland ended June 24, Tehachapi News, June 30, 2025.
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Cement, U.S. Geological Survey, 2026.
- Supplement to Map Sheet 52, Aggregate Sustainability in California (2026), California Geological Survey, April 2026.
- Bakersfield Industrial MarketBeat Q2 2026, Cushman & Wakefield, Q2 2026.
- Q2 2026 Bakersfield, CA Industrial Market Report, Lee & Associates, July 2026.
- Discover Our Mojave Micro Mill, Pacific Steel Group.
- Steel mill breaks ground in Mojave, Antelope Valley Press, March 7, 2025.
- Section 21167, time limits for CEQA actions, Justia (California Public Resources Code), 2025.
About this article
Kern CRE prepared this article with help from AI research and writing tools. An editor reviewed the draft, checked its facts against the sources linked above and edited it for accuracy and clarity. Details come from public records and the sources cited; unless stated, Kern CRE and ASU Commercial were not involved in the transaction or project.