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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