The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management or his or her designee shall be the contractor for the purposes of sections 22a-352 to 22a-354, inclusive, and may engage consultants or arrange for other technical assistance to implement the work program, and within the limitations of the budget, developed under subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 22a-352. The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or his or her designee, may make grants to any regional council of governments organized under sections 4-124i to 4-124p, inclusive, for the purpose of preparing regional plans for water and sewer facilities. Such grants may cover retroactively work initiated by a regional planning agency after January 1, 1967. The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management or his or her designee shall apply for any and all funds available from the federal government to support such planning work and shall see that regional councils of governments receiving state grants take similar advantage of available federal funds in order to reduce expenditure of funds appropriated under section 22a-354, provided utilization of such federal funds shall not unduly delay the conduct of said study.