992                               Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 450

(g) as hereinafter provided, review any applications to agencies
of the state or Federal Government for loans or grants-in-aid for
projects by governmental subdivisions within the Region;

(h) review local plans, proposals for projects, and ordinances hav-
ing an impact outside the boundaries of the local government, sub-
divisions and within the Planning Region;

(i) employ a director, engineers, attorneys, planners, consultants
and other employees and prescribe their powers and duties and fix
their compensation;

(j) prepare studies of the region's resources with respect to exist-
ing and emerging problems of industry, commerce, transportation,
population, housing, agriculture, public services, local governments,
and any other matters which are relevant to regional planning;

(k) collect, process, and analyze at regular intervals the social
and economic statistics for the region which are necessary to plan-
ning studies and make the results available to the general public;

(1)  participate with other government agencies, educational insti-
tutions, and private organizations in the coordination of the research
activities defined above;

(m) cooperate with and provide planning assistance to county,
municipal, and other local governments, instrumentalities, or plan-
ning agencies within the region, and coordinate regional area plan-
ning with planning activities of the state and of the counties, munic-
ipalities, special districts, or other local governmental units within
the region as well as neighboring regions and with the programs of
federal departments and agencies;

(n) provide information to officials in state departments, agencies,
and instrumentalities; to federal, and local governments and to the
public at large, in order to foster public awareness and understanding
of the objectives of the comprehensive plan and the functions of
regional and local planning, and in order to stimulate public interest
and participation in the orderly, integrated development of the
region; and

(o) execute any and all instruments and do and perform any and
all acts or things necessary, convenient, or desirable for its purposes
or to carry out the powers expressly given in this section.

54A.

(2)  The Tri-County Council shall be a tax-exempt public body
corporate and politic, and shall operate as a cooperative planning
and development agency within the representative counties to foster
the physical, economic and social development of the tri-county
area and utilize effectively the assistance provided by the State. It
shall initiate and coordinate plans and projects for the development
of human and economic resources of the Southern Maryland region
as a Southern Maryland planning and development agency.

The Council will cooperate with the State departments and agen-
cies concerned, including, but not limited to the Department of State
Planning, Department of Economic Development, the State Office of
Economic Opportunity, the State Roads Commission and the Depart-
ment of Natural Resources, and submit for approval plans and