Official Summary Text
HB2118 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet
Assigned to
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PASSED BY COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR
H.B. 2118
mobile
food vendors; licensure
Purpose
Prohibits a city or town from requiring a mobile food vendor to obtain a
local regulatory permit or license. Removes the specification that statewide
licensing standards for a mobile food vendor do not preclude a city or town
from requiring a license that includes a background check or identification of
the mobile food vendor.
Background
A city or town, by ordinance or resolution, may: 1) prohibit or restrict
a mobile food vendor from operating at a public airport or public transit
facility, in an area zoned for residential use or within 250 feet of an area
zoned for residential use; and 2) continue to enact and enforce regulations and
zoning codes on mobile food units or mobile food vendors that are not otherwise
prohibited by law. A city or town, in relation to a mobile food vendor or
mobile food unit, may not: 1) require a mobile food vendor, property owner or
lessee of a property to apply for and receive any special permit that is not
required for other temporary or mobile vending businesses in the same zoning
district; 2) require a mobile food vendor or mobile food unit to operate a
specific distance from the perimeter of an existing commercial establishment or
restaurant, except as required by applicable codes; 3) prohibit or restrict a
mobile food vendor or mobile food unit from using any legal parking space; or
4) require a mobile food unit to be inspected by a city or town fire department
before operation if the mobile food vendor provides evidence that the mobile
food unit passed a fire inspection by another city or town fire department in Arizona
within the preceding 12 months (
A.R.S.
� 9-485.01
).
A county board of supervisors (county BOS), by ordinance or resolution,
may: 1) restrict or prohibit the operation of a mobile food unit in an area
that is zoned as residential only;
2) prohibit a mobile food unit that is operating on private property from
blocking ingress to and egress from the property; and 3) require a mobile food
vendor to obtain consent from a private property owner before operating on the
property. A county BOS may not restrict how long a mobile food unit may operate
at a private property location, except that a mobile food vendor may not
operate at a private property for more than 96 consecutive hours
(
A.R.S. � 11-269.24
).
The Director of
the Department of Health Services (DHS) must adopt rules that establish the
health and safety licensing standards for mobile food vendors and mobile food
units, including the health and safety licensing standards for necessary
commissary or other servicing area agreements. The Director of DHS must also
establish a licensing process for mobile food units that delegates the
licensing and health and safety inspection standards to the county health
department where the mobile food vendor's commissary is located. A city, town
or county may require a mobile food vendor to have a fingerprint clearance card.
The outlined requirements for health and safety licensing standards for mobile
food vendors does not preclude a city or town or county from requiring a mobile
food vendor to be licensed if the licensing system includes a background check
or identification and fingerprinting of the owner of the mobile food vending
operation (
A.R.S.
� 36-1761
).
A
mobile
food vendor
is any person who owns, controls, manages or leases a mobile
food unit or contracts with a person to prepare foods and vend from, drive or
operate a mobile food unit (
A.R.S.
� 11-269.24
).
There is no
anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.
Provisions
1.
Prohibits a city or town from requiring a mobile food vendor to obtain a
local regulatory permit or license.
2.
Removes the stipulation that DHS licensing standards for mobile food
vendors do not preclude a city or town from requiring a mobile food vendor to
be licensed, if the licensing system includes a background check or
identification and fingerprinting of the owner of the mobile food vending
operation.
3.
Specifies
that a county is not precluded from:
a)
requiring
a mobile food vendor to be licensed or permitted; or
b)
collecting fees or imposing identification requirements that are
necessary to administer and enforce mobile food vendor regulations and
inspections pursuant to health and safety licensing standards or any delegation
agreement.
4.
Makes conforming changes.
5.
Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by
Committee
�
Specifies that a county is not precluded from requiring outlined
mobile food vendor licensure.
House Action
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Senate
Action
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Prepared by Senate Research
March 30, 2026
AN/KP/ci
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
HB2118 - 572R - S Ver
Senate Engrossed
House Bill
mobile food vendors;
licensure
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2118
AN
ACT
Amending sections 9-485.01 and 36-1761,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to mobile food vendors.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 9-485.01, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
9-485.01.
Mobile food vendors; mobile food units; operation
A. In relation to a mobile food vendor or mobile
food unit, a city or town by ordinance or resolution may:
1. Prohibit or restrict a mobile food vendor from
operating at a public airport or public transit facility, in an area zoned for
residential use or within two hundred fifty feet of an area zoned for
residential use.
2. Continue to enact and enforce regulations and
zoning codes on mobile food units or mobile food vendors that are not otherwise
prohibited by law.
B. In relation to a mobile food vendor or mobile
food unit, a city or town may not:
1. Require a mobile food vendor, property owner or
lessee of a property to apply for and receive any special permit that is not
required for other temporary or mobile vending businesses in the same zoning
district.
2. Require a mobile food vendor or mobile food unit
to operate a specific distance from the perimeter of an existing commercial
establishment or restaurant, except as required by applicable building, fire,
street and sidewalk codes.
3. Prohibit or
restrict a mobile food vendor or mobile food unit from using any legal parking
space, including metered parking, except to restrict the number of spaces,
vehicle size and parking duration and the ability to occupy sites with insufficient
parking capacity as prescribed by a local zoning ordinance of the city or town
or as otherwise prohibited by federal law.
4. Require a mobile food unit to be inspected by a
city or town fire department before operation if the mobile food vendor
provides evidence that the mobile food unit passed a fire inspection by another
city or town fire department in this state within the preceding twelve months.
5. Require a mobile food vendor to
obtain a local regulatory permit or license.
C. A city or town with a population of more than
fifty thousand persons shall make available all applicable license applications
in an electronic format that is available online and may not require a mobile
food vendor to apply in person.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 36-1761, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
36-1761.
Mobile food vendors; mobile food units; rules; health and safety
licensing standards
A. The director shall adopt rules that do all of the
following:
1. Establish health and safety licensing standards
for mobile food vendors and mobile food units that apply on a statewide
basis. The licensing standards shall:
(a) Include three categories of mobile food units
that are based on the type of food dispensed and the amount of handling and
preparation required.
(b) Include general physical and operation
requirements of a mobile food unit, including:
(i) Installation of compressors, generators and
similar mechanical units that are not an integral part of the food preparation
or storage equipment.
(ii) Necessary commissary or other servicing area
agreements.
(iii) Vehicle and equipment cleaning requirements.
(iv) Waste disposal requirements during and after
operation on public or private property, which may not include the size or
dimensions of any required solid waste receptacle.
2. Establish statewide inspection standards that are
based on objective factors for use by the county health departments.
3. Establish a licensing process for mobile food
units that does all of the following:
(a) Requires a separate license for each mobile food
unit.
(b) Requires a license to be renewed annually.
(c) Delegates to the county health department in the
county where the mobile food vendor's commissary is located the licensing and
health and safety inspection for state licensure using the statewide inspection
standards adopted pursuant to this section. The licensing process
shall require random inspections by county health departments at no additional
cost except as provided in section 11-269.24. A mobile food
unit license issued by a county health department pursuant to this section
shall have reciprocity in each county of this state. A county health
department may enforce the statewide inspection standards regardless of where
the license was issued.
(d) Requires all employees of a mobile food vendor
to have a valid food handler card or a certificate from an accredited food
handler training class as specified in rule by the department.
(e) Requires that the license be displayed in the
mobile food vendor's operating location in a conspicuous location for public
view.
B. The rules adopted pursuant to this section may
not do either of the following:
1. Require a mobile food vendor or mobile food unit
to operate a specific distance from the perimeter of an existing commercial
establishment or restaurant.
2. Address the operating hours of a mobile food
unit.
C. Except as
otherwise specified in this chapter, the director may adopt rules that are substantively
the same as the regulations that are in place on August 3, 2018 in Maricopa
county regarding mobile food establishments.
D. This section does not preclude a
city, town or county from requiring a mobile food vendor to be licensed if the
licensing system includes a background check or identification and
fingerprinting of the owner of the mobile food vending operation.
D. This section does not preclude a
county from doing any of the following:
1. requiring a mobile food vendor to
be licensed or permitted.
2. collecting fees or imposing
identification requirements that are necessary to administer and enforce mobile
food vendor regulations and inspections pursuant to this title or any
delegation agreement.
END_STATUTE