To establish relative priorities and avoid duplication and conflicts, the Department shall advise the Governor on the means and methods available to coordinate the plans and programs of all units of the State government. To avoid duplication and conflicts, the Department shall advise the Governor on the means and methods available to coordinate the plans and programs of federal, State, regional, and local governments.

The Department shall: harmonize its planning activities with the planning activities of other units of the State government; coordinate the plans and programs of all units of the State government; cooperate with and assist other units of the State government in the execution of their planning functions, to harmonize their planning activities with the State Development Plan; and promote the State’s Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Policy set forth in Subtitle 7A of this title. The Department shall: harmonize its planning activities with the planning activities of local governments; and cooperate with and assist local governments in the execution of their planning functions, to harmonize their planning activities with the State Development Plan. The Department shall: coordinate State programs with the federal government; cooperate with and assist units of the federal government in the execution of their planning functions, to harmonize their planning activities with the State Development Plan; and cooperate with, confer with, and, on request, provide information to: units of the federal government; and local or regional agencies that are created under federal programs or that receive federal support. As far as possible, the Department shall cooperate with and confer with planning agencies of other states or of regional groupings of states. The Department shall cooperate with and assist regional and private planning agencies in the execution of their planning functions, to harmonize their planning activities with the State Development Plan. The Department shall exercise authority as the lead agency in coordinating the State’s land preservation efforts and focus its planning efforts on targeted land preservation. The Department shall plan for the efficient use of inactive railroad corridors by: examining all opportunities, both present and future, for acquisition or use of inactive railroad corridors; coordinating and working with the Departments of Natural Resources, Transportation, Commerce, and the State Railroad Administration and other agencies to determine the suitability and feasibility of acquiring or using inactive railroad corridors for recreational trails, public utilities, or future transportation purposes; and taking part in United States Interstate Commerce Commission proceedings regarding the abandonment or the discontinuance of use of railroad corridors on behalf of the State. The Department shall: review transportation plans and programs prepared by the Department of Transportation and regional planning agencies and make recommendations regarding the relationship between transportation and planned land use; and evaluate proposed transportation improvements and policies to assure consistency between transportation investments and the State Economic Growth, Resource Protection, and Planning Policy. The Department may provide advice to local governments regarding the impact on growth and development of: transportation components of local plans; aspects of local land use regulation affecting transportation; and local transportation improvements.

The Department: shall provide planning assistance, including surveys, land use studies, urban renewal plans, technical services, and other planning work, to local governments; and may provide financial and other planning assistance to local governments as provided in the State budget. The Department may provide financial or other planning assistance to regional planning agencies as provided in the State budget. Before providing the assistance, the Secretary shall consider the adequacy and competency of any regional or local planning agency that requests financial assistance from the Department. The Secretary may require any local government or regional planning agency that receives financial or other planning assistance from the State to submit to the Secretary a copy of its planning budget. The Secretary may require any local government or regional planning agency that receives financial or other planning assistance from the State to submit to an annual audit of its financial operations related to planning. The audit shall be performed by the Legislative Auditor or by an auditor or accountant legally qualified to perform municipal audits. The Secretary may accept an audit by the federal unit for a local government that receives financial or other planning assistance from a unit of the federal government. Whenever the Department requests and receives financial or other assistance from any unit of the federal government for planning assistance to a local government or a regional planning agency, the Department shall satisfy any requirement imposed by federal law.

The Department may collect reimbursement, in accordance with an agreement, for technical services the Department provides under § 5-402 or § 5-403(a) of this subtitle. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (a) of this section, the Department may require a contribution in any amount from a local government or regional planning agency that requests assistance under § 5-403 of this subtitle. If federal law requires a contribution in any amount as a condition before a local government or a regional planning agency may receive financial or other planning assistance, the Department may supply all or part of the contribution as provided in the State budget, unless the federal law specifies that the local government or regional planning agency shall make the contribution.

The Secretary may make an agreement with the head of another unit of the State government, of a local government, of a regional or local planning agency, or of a unit of the federal government for the temporary exchange or transfer of employees: from the Department to the unit, local government, or agency; or from the unit, local government, or agency to the Department. An employee may not be transferred or exchanged under this section for more than 90 days at a time. The approval of the Secretary of Budget and Management is not required for an agreement under this section. For purposes of Division I of the State Personnel and Pensions Article, an employee transferred or exchanged under this section is considered to continue in the position from which the employee is temporarily transferred or exchanged. The Secretary may agree to reimburse, or collect reimbursement from, another unit of the State government, a local government, a regional or local planning agency, or a federal agency for a transfer or exchange of employees under this section.

In the exercise of its planning functions, the Department shall cooperate with any unit of the State or federal government in planning for civil defense.

There is within the Department a program for certification of effective county agricultural land preservation programs. A county may apply to the Department and the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation for certification under this section only if the county agricultural preservation advisory board and the governing body of the county both: approve the program established at the county level as being an effective approach to agricultural land preservation; and approve the county’s application for certification. A county may apply for certification under this section if the county has established programs to encourage participation of farmers in agricultural land preservation efforts at the county level, including purchase of development rights or financial enhancements related to purchase of development rights, outside of the State Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation. County programs shall include: any program that the Department and the Foundation: determine is necessary for an effective county agricultural land preservation program; and require by regulation; and beginning in fiscal year 2009, a priority preservation area element established in accordance with § 2–518 of the Agriculture Article. To apply for certification under this section, a county shall file with the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation and the Department an application in the form that the Department and the Foundation jointly require by regulation. Within 60 days after notification of an application for certification: the Foundation shall advise the Department as to whether it approves the application; and the Department shall notify the county as to whether the county’s application for certification has been approved. The Department and the Foundation may not certify a county under this section unless the Department and the Foundation determine that: the proposed county program for the purchase of development rights or financial enhancements related to the purchase of development rights is likely to be successful; the county has committed to spend additional local funds for the purchase of development rights or enhancements related to the purchase of development rights in an amount equal to or exceeding the amount of the additional funds that will be available as a result of certification; and beginning in fiscal year 2009: the county’s priority preservation area has been established in accordance with § 2–518 of the Agriculture Article; and the county’s priority preservation area element in the comprehensive plan meets the requirements set forth in subsection (f) of this section. The Department and the Foundation may not certify a priority preservation area of a county under this section unless the Department and the Foundation agree that the county’s comprehensive plan: establishes appropriate goals for the amount and types of agricultural resource land to be preserved in the priority preservation area; describes: the county’s strategy to support normal agricultural and forestry activities in conjunction with the amount of development permitted in the priority preservation area; and the ordinances, regulations, and procedures the county is using in the priority preservation area to support the ability of working farms to engage in normal agricultural and forestry activities; includes maps showing the county’s priority preservation area; describes the priority preservation area in the context of the county’s growth management plans; describes the way in which preservation goals will be accomplished in the priority preservation area, including the county’s strategy to: protect land from development through zoning; preserve the desired amount of land with permanent easements; and maintain a rural environment capable of supporting normal agricultural and forestry activities; includes an evaluation of the ability of the county’s zoning and other land use management practices to: limit the impact of subdivision and development; allow time for easement purchase; and achieve the Foundation’s goals before development excessively compromises the agricultural and forest resource land; identifies shortcomings in the abilities of the county’s zoning and land management practices and identifies current or future actions to correct the shortcomings; and describes the methods the county will use to concentrate preservation funds and other supporting efforts in the priority preservation area to achieve the goals of the Foundation and the county’s acreage preservation goal. In certifying a county’s priority preservation area, the Department and the Foundation shall ensure that: the county has included all the information required by subsection (f) of this section in the county’s comprehensive plan; and the size of the county’s priority preservation area is appropriate in relation to the county’s acreage preservation goal. A county that has been certified under this section as having established an effective county agricultural land preservation program is eligible for: the additional funds available to certified counties under § 2–508.1 of the Agriculture Article and § 13–306 of the Tax – Property Article; and as of July 1, 2008, funds provided for the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation over and above the funding the Foundation receives in accordance with § 2–508.1 of the Agriculture Article and §§ 13–209 and 13–306 of the Tax – Property Article. A county that has been certified under this section may use the additional funds available as a result of certification: for the purposes stated under § 2–508.1 of the Agriculture Article and § 13–306 of the Tax – Property Article; to purchase easements in its priority preservation area; for a Critical Farms Program approved by the Foundation; for an installment purchase agreement program approved by the Foundation; or for the Next Generation Farmland Acquisition Program approved by the Foundation. Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, a certification or recertification under this section is effective for 3 years and the decision by the Department and the Foundation as to certification or recertification is final with no right to appeal. At the request of the county, the Department and the Foundation shall recertify under this section a county agricultural land preservation program if: the county has maintained a successful program of purchase of development rights or financial enhancements related to purchase of development rights during the period of certification; conditions in the county priority preservation area remain in accordance with the requirements of § 2–518 of the Agriculture Article; the county provides an update on the method, evaluation, shortcomings, and future actions that the county is using or will use to achieve preservation goals, as required under subsection (f)(6) through (8) of this section; and the update demonstrates significant progress toward achievement of preservation goals in the priority preservation area. If the Department and the Foundation determine that a program is consistently effective in the achievement of preservation goals, a program recertification under this section is effective for 5 years. The Department and the Foundation shall review a county program recertification under this paragraph when a county: revises the boundary of a priority preservation area; subtracts land from a priority preservation area; or adopts a comprehensive rezoning policy that increases the allowable nonagricultural land uses, density, or intensity of development within a priority preservation area. The Department and the Foundation may revoke a county program recertification under this paragraph on a finding that a county action under subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph is inconsistent with the requirements of § 2–518 of the Agriculture Article. The Department and the Foundation shall jointly adopt regulations for administration of the certification program. In accordance with the requirements of § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the Department and the Foundation shall report on the certification program on or before January 15 of each year to: the Governor; the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Planning; the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee and the Senate Committee on Education, Energy, and the Environment; and the House Appropriations Committee, the House Environment and Transportation Committee, and the House Committee on Ways and Means.