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.