(a)    The General Assembly finds and declares that:

(1)    Recurrent flooding of a portion of the State’s land resources causes loss of life, damage to property, disruption of commerce and governmental services, and unsanitary conditions, all of which are detrimental to the health, safety, welfare, and property of the occupants of flood hazard areas of the State;

(2)    Considerable public costs are incurred through the emergency preparedness program and by replacing public utilities and other public capital investments destroyed or damaged by floods;

(3)    Flood waters disregard jurisdictional boundaries; and

(4)    The public interest necessitates management of waters and flood hazard areas for the objectives of preventing and alleviating flood threats to life and health, reducing private and public economic losses, and to the extent possible, preserving the biological values associated with these land and water resources.

(b)    The policy and purposes of this subtitle are:

(1)    To assist in the guidance of development to minimize the impacts of flooding;

(2)    To provide State guidelines and technical assistance to local governments in management of flood hazard areas;

(3)    To provide for comprehensive watershed management;

(4)    To facilitate implementation of projects for flood control;

(5)    To encourage and provide for local governmental units to manage flood–prone lands in a comprehensive manner;

(6)    To provide for the biological and environmental quality of the watersheds of the State; and

(7)    To establish a grant program to assist local jurisdictions with:

(i)    Implementation of those capital projects included within the comprehensive flood management plans which are adopted and approved in accordance with this subtitle; and

(ii)    Infrastructure repairs, watershed restoration, and emergency protection work associated with a flood event.