AI-assisted research summary: The director must adopt statewide health and safety licensing and inspection rules for mobile food vendors and mobile food units, and the rules cannot set distance-from-restaurant or operating-hours requirements.
36-1761 - Mobile food vendors; mobile food units; rules; health and safety licensing standards 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.