How to Fill Out the Sacramento County Mobile Food Facility Application: Plan Review (PE 1740), Commissary Verification and Permit to Operate

This walks the three county forms a cooking truck files, field by field. For everything around them — the City of Sacramento's vehicle and driver permits, the commissary budget and total cost — start with the Sacramento food truck permit guide, or how to start a food truck business in California for the statewide sequence.

A Sacramento truck's health permit comes from the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department (EMD). There is no single "food truck application". A new truck that cooks on board files three documents in a fixed order: a plan review application, a commissary verification, and an application for the permit itself.

Step 1 — Work out your category, because it decides which forms you file

Category D is the only category that goes through mobile plan review, so settle the category first. The county's mobile food FAQ defines the four:

The FAQ's Category D examples include some that do not sound like cooking: scooping ice cream, dispensing soft serve, and cutting or slicing fruit. An older county handout, the January 2025 classification packet, lists cutting whole produce and scooping ice cream under Category B instead. The two documents disagree, and the difference is $410 a year plus plan review, so if your menu sits on that line ask Environmental Health on (916) 875-8440 before you pick a box.

Step 2 — Check whether you need plan review at all

You need plan review only if the truck is Category D and is not currently permitted, and has never been permitted, in any county in California. That is the county's own test, and it turns on permit history, not on how new the truck is.

If the truck has held a county health permit elsewhere in California, skip to Step 5.

Step 3 — The plan review application, page 1

Use the copy titled Application for MFF Plan Review (PE1740) on the county's Food Program Forms page, not the general Application for Food Facility Plan Review next to it. The page is headed Food Facility Plan Review Application — New Construction / Major Remodel / Minor Remodel on both, but the mobile copy arrives with the PE 1740 line already marked, MFF-D already typed in, a Cat-D VIN# line added, and the mobile plan checklist attached as page 2. The general copy carries a restaurant checklist instead.

Leave the OFFICE USE ONLY strip blank: PE, $, Account #, Date Paid, Receipt #, County BID #, and the SR / FA / PR / CT line beneath it. You fill in three blocks:

• Facility Information — Facility Name, Address, City, Zip, Ph #, Type of Facility (restaurant, market, etc) and Sq.Ft. The truck's VIN goes on the Cat-D VIN# line.
• Payment / Billing Contact — Name, Ph #, Address, City, Zip, Email, Fax #. This is who gets the invoice.
• Plan Submittal Contact — Name, Ph #, Email, Fax #. This is who the plan reviewer calls with corrections. If a builder drew the plans, this can be the builder rather than you.

Scope of work is a row of tick boxes written for restaurants: New Construction, Remodeling Existing Permitted Food Facility, Adding New Equipment, Replacing Existing Approved Equipment, Changing Facility Floorplan / Layout, sinks, dishwasher, water heater, hood ventilation system, walk-in refrigerator or freezer, floor/wall/ceiling finishes, Substantial Menu Change and Other.

The fee table lists nine plan review types, PE 1710 to PE 1717 for buildings and one line for trucks:

Six of the eight building lines (PE 1710 to 1715) state a number of inspections in what the fee includes. PE 1740 states none, like the two building lines that carry no inspection (PE 1716 and 1717), so ask the reviewer how the truck inspection is billed.

Three instructions at the top of the page set the terms:

• Submit the form with one complete set of plans to EMD at 11080 White Rock Rd, Ste 200, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
• For electronic submittal, contact EMD Plan Review on (916) 874-6010 or EHPlanReview@SacCounty.gov to receive additional submittal instructions. The county's plan review page says electronic submittal is accepted for mobile food plans and is not mandatory.
• The plan review application and approval expire one year after the date submitted. A build that runs long can outlive its own approval.

Step 4 — The Category D Plan Submittal Checklist, page 2

Page 2 is a checklist of 16 things the plans must show, each with a Page # box where you write the sheet of your plans that shows it. Fill in every box. A blank box tells the reviewer the item is missing before they have opened the drawings.

Plans must be drawn to scale, minimum 1/4 inch per foot. The checklist accepts 8.5 x 11 inch paper as the minimum, while page 1 asks for 24 x 36 inch paper "when applicable", a line written for buildings.

The form groups these under 16 tick boxes; the table gives service windows and the water heater their own rows so each number is easy to find. The checklist asks where the tanks are and how big, but does not print a minimum tank size. The county's January 2025 classification packet does, in its Category D self-inspection checklist: a potable water tank of at least 30 gallons, a wastewater tank of at least 45 gallons, and for new permits an aisle with at least 74 inches of height and 30 inches of clear width. Put those numbers on the plumbing plan and the elevations. Our food truck health inspection checklist covers what the inspector then tests on the finished truck.

Page 3 is a blank Reviewer Notes grid. It comes back to you with the corrections on it.

Step 5 — The Commissary or MSU Verification

This is a three-page form with two signatures that are not yours to give, so start it early. The county's FAQ says a commissary is required for all Category B and Category D trucks, and that every truck must be stored at an approved commissary.

Top half of page 1 — you. Tick the Type of Facility: MEV, MFF Cat. A, B, C or D, or Caterer. Then: MFF/MEV/Caterer Business Name, License Plate Number, Owner Name, Owner Mailing Address, City, Zip Code, work phone and mobile. Your signature sits under a statement that you will report to the commissary at least once each operating day for cleaning and servicing, citing CalCode Sec. 114297, that you will store the vehicle at the approved commissary or another approved location, and that you will notify Environmental Health on (916) 875-8440 if you stop using it.

Bottom half of page 1 — the commissary. Type of Facility (Commissary, MSU, Restaurant, Market, Other), Commissary Business Name, Owner's Name, Address, City, Zip Code, Contact Phone and MFF Access Hours. Then 13 services, each circled Y or N:

• Preparation or packaging of food
• Sewage disposal
• Overnight parking
• Toilet & handwashing
• Potable water supply (with hot and cold tick boxes)
• Warewashing
• Electrical hook-up
• Refrigerated / frozen food storage
• Garbage
• Supplies storage
• Cleaning areas drained to wastewater/sewer system
• Dry food storage
• Supply food products

The commissary owner or representative signs that they can and will provide the facilities checked. Two notes follow in capitals. The first: the commissary owner's signature must be a wet/original within 30 days of applying for permit. NO COPIES. A scan or a signature from two months ago fails this line. The second: use of an unapproved facility for any of the listed purposes can lead to revocation of your permit.

Page 2 — the MFF Menu and Food Preparation Questionnaire. Page 1 says Category B, C and D applicants must fill out the back page, and the back page says it is required for all new permit or renewal applicants. Five free-text questions: Menu Items; Cooking equipment used on the truck; Cooking equipment used at the commissary; Where are the food items prepared/cooked; Where are the food ingredients/supplies stored. You sign and so does the inspector. The answers have to agree with page 1: if you write that prep happens at the commissary, the commissary needs a Y against Preparation or packaging of food.

Page 3 — Out of County Commissary. Only if the commissary is outside Sacramento County. That county's environmental health department verifies the facility has a current health permit, and a Registered Environmental Health Specialist prints their name and REHS number, signs and dates, and gives a phone and email. The REHS signature verifies the facility meets CalCode Section 114294-114297. Sacramento County's FAQ says an out-of-county commissary may be approved if the daily commute to your operating location is practical. Alameda County's form has the same page, covered in our Alameda County walkthrough for Oakland trucks.

Two things in the county's FAQ are worth knowing before you choose a kitchen. A restaurant with a valid health permit can serve as a commissary if it can provide every service on the form, but it needs a commissary evaluation by a mobile food inspector, for which extra fees may apply, and written approval from the local planning or zoning department for overnight parking. And in the City of Sacramento, Folsom and Elk Grove, truck wastewater must discharge into a grease interceptor before the public sewer, so a commissary there has to have one.

Step 6 — The Application for Permit to Operate

This is one page, shared with restaurants, bars, markets and pools, and a truck uses a small part of it.

• FACILITY — Business Name (DBA), Phone, Site / Commissary Address, City, State, Zip, Days of operation, Hours of operation. The label covers both a fixed site and a commissary; for a truck the address that fits is the commissary's, the same one as on the verification form.
• BILL — Billing Name, Billing Address, City, State, Zip, Phone.
• OWNER — Owner (Corp/LLC) Name, Address (home or office), City, State, Zip, Owner E-mail, Business E-mail, Phone.
• TYPE OF PERMIT — tick one line. For a cooking truck: MOBILE FOOD FACILITY CATEGORY D, $812.00, PE 1635. The other mobile lines are Category A $201.00 (1631), Category B $402.00 (1632), Category C $480.00 (1633) and Compact Mobile Food Operator $402.00 (1637).
• Certification — Print, Signature, Title/Position, Date, under a statement that you are the owner or the owner's authorized representative and the business will comply with all state and local laws.

Leave the OFFICIAL USE ONLY boxes blank, including New Facility / Change of Ownership, Facility ID # and Vehicle Lic. #.

One line under the facility block applies to dessert trucks: if the unit has a semi-frozen (soft serve) processing machine, the form tells you to call the State of California Milk & Dairy Food Safety Branch on (209) 466-7186.

What goes in with it. The county's FAQ says to submit the Application for Permit to Operate along with a Commissary Form, Route Sheet, and a Restroom Verification Form, and that the Route Sheet and Restroom Verification are required for Category D. A Restroom Verification Form is needed for each location where the truck will operate for longer than one hour, and the restroom must be within 200 feet. Neither of those two forms was on the Food Program Forms page when we checked on 10 October 2026, so ask for them when you apply: EMD-EHAdminsupport@saccounty.gov or (916) 875-8440.

Step 7 — Fees, payment and where to send it

Plan review goes to the Plan Review office and the permit application goes to administrative support. Both are at the same address.

A new Category D truck pays $792 + $812 = $1,604 to the county before it opens, before any reinspection. The county's fee page says the 2026-27 schedule was approved by the Board of Supervisors on April 28, 2026 and took effect July 1, 2026, so figures quoted from older copies of these forms are out of date.

Submitting the permit application. In person at 11080 White Rock Rd, Ste 200, Rancho Cordova, or by email to EMD-EHAdminsupport@saccounty.gov with your business name in the subject line. Pay online at emdpayments.saccounty.gov and attach proof of payment to the email. The wet-signature rule on the commissary form still applies, so ask admin support how they want the original delivered when the rest goes by email.

After the permit. All MFF permits in Sacramento County expire on December 31 of each calendar year. A truck handling non-prepackaged potentially hazardous food needs one valid food safety certificate within 60 days of its first inspection; our food manager certification guide covers which exam counts. The business name goes on two sides of the vehicle in 3 inch lettering, with the city, state and zip code in 1 inch lettering. The county permit covers the truck at events, so no separate county temporary food permit is needed for a permitted truck, and the FAQ says to contact each event coordinator about inclusion in their permitted event.

Five ways these forms send you back to the start

The county does not publish why it returns applications. These five are read directly off the forms' own rules.

1. Skipping PE 1740 because the truck has an HCD insignia. The county says the insignia does not exempt a truck from plan review. Only a California county health permit history does.
2. A photocopied or stale commissary signature. It must be wet, original and dated within 30 days of applying.
3. A menu questionnaire that disagrees with the commissary's Y/N answers. Prep at the commissary needs a Y against preparation or packaging of food, and overnight storage needs a Y against overnight parking or another approved location.
4. Service windows over 216 square inches, or closer than 18 inches apart. This is on the plan checklist with its CalCode section, and it is expensive to fix once the body is cut.
5. No Restroom Verification Form for a stop longer than one hour. One form per location, with the restroom within 200 feet.

The habits that prevent mismatches like these on any form, starting with one master record of your business details, are in how to fill out a vendor permit application faster.

Sources: Sacramento County EMD, Application for MFF Plan Review (PE1740), FY 2026-2027, Rev. 07/01/26 (official) · Verification of Mobile Food Facility Commissary (Commissary or MSU Verification) · Application for Permit to Operate, FY 2026-2027, Rev. 07/01/26 (on the county's server; not linked from the forms page when checked, and its fees match the published schedule) · Food Program Forms and Documents · Environmental Health Annual Fee Schedule 2026-2027 · Program fees (Board approval and effective date) · Mobile Food/Food Trucks FAQ · Plan Review: Food Facilities, Pools & Spas · How to Obtain a Health Permit for Mobile Food Facilities (classification packet, January 2025, archived copy) · Environmental Health (916) 875-8440 · Plan Review (916) 874-6010. The Route Sheet and Restroom Verification Form were not available to read, so this guide describes only what the county's FAQ says about them. Verified 10 October 2026; fees and form wording re-checked 13 October 2026.