Texas Food Truck Rule Proposal Raises Jurisdiction Questions

Texas lawmakers passed HB 2844 – the Mobile Food Vendor Freedom Act to create a statewide licensing system for mobile food vendors administered by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). The law is intended to eliminate the patchwork of local permitting requirements by establishing one statewide license and inspection framework.

To implement the law, DSHS is proposing new rules for mobile food vendors, including provisions addressing propane systems used on food trucks. The proposal references national safety standards including NFPA 58 (Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code) and NFPA 96 (Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations).

TPGA members have also raised concerns about proposed language describing systems as “readily moveable,” noting that the terminology may create confusion when applied to LP-Gas installations that fall under existing propane safety rules.

The TPGA Technical & Standards Committee discussed the proposal last week and emphasized that propane system oversight should remain with the Railroad Commission of Texas, the current authority having jurisdiction for LP-Gas. The Railroad Commission indicated it will work with its legal department to submit comments asserting its jurisdiction. Meanwhile, NFPA is developing a stand-alone code for mobile food vehicles, and Chapter 16 of NFPA 58 has been moved to the annex for the upcoming 2028 edition as part of that transition.

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