County supervisors Tuesday got to see a preview of the color-coded placards. Green is good, yellow indicates there were a few problems and red means the violations were so bad the facility had to be shut down. The placards also include information on previous inspections and Supervisor Roger Dickenson questioned whether that was relevant. 

"I mean if you pass today, what does it matter what you were a year ago." 

But Mel Knight who heads the county’s Environmental Management Department says public focus groups wanted those details. 

"And that was one of the comments the public sort of told us that if for instance had a closure on Wednesday and they corrected all actions and then received a pass on Thursday that they actually would like to know."

Supervisors directed staff to redesign the placards so that there is a clear distinction between current and previous inspection results.

While other California counties use a grading system, Sacramento will be the first in the state to use the color-coded placards when it goes into effect on January 1st.