The Department shall:

(1)    Develop and implement a program to educate the public on every phase of shore and bank erosion, its causes and effects, the locations where erosion is a problem, and steps to be taken to control erosion;

(2)    Review petitions for formation of shore erosion control districts presented to any county and report to the county as provided in § 21–303 of the Local Government Article;

(3)    Provide technical assistance to individual property owners, municipalities, and counties having specific shore and bank erosion problems;

(4)    Design or cause to be designed shore erosion control projects, including vegetative cover, in shore erosion control districts;

(5)    Enter into agreements with any person to construct shore erosion control projects;

(6)    Administer the Fund to provide loans to any person in support of construction of shore erosion control projects;

(7)    Supervise or provide supervision of design and erection of any shore protective device the Fund finances in whole or part;

(8)    Prepare requests for appropriation of funds necessary to maintain the Fund;

(9)    Cooperate with the following units:

(i)    The State Highway Administration for shore erosion control where essential to protect municipal, county, or State roads;

(ii)    The United States Army Corps of Engineers to conduct shore erosion studies; and

(iii)    The Soil Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture to evaluate and apply vegetative measures for shore erosion control;

(10)    Design, construct, and maintain shore erosion control works on State–owned lands if these projects are included in the budget for the Fund;

(11)    Actively seek to obtain available funds from the federal government for shore erosion control projects; and

(12)    Adopt regulations to implement this subtitle.