; (B) responses to marine mammal stranding events that require emergency assistance; (C) the collection of data and samples from living or dead stranded marine mammals for scientific research or assessments regarding marine mammal health; (D) facility operating costs that are directly related to activities described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C); and (E) development of stranding network capacity, including training for emergency response, where facilities do not exist or are sparse. (3) Contract, grant, and cooperative agreement authority The Secretary may enter into a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement with any eligible stranding network participant or stranding network collaborator, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, for the purposes described in paragraph (2). (4) Equitable distribution of funds (A) In general The Secretary shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that funds awarded under the grant program are distributed equitably among the stranding regions. (B) Considerations In determining priorities among the stranding regions under this paragraph, the Secretary may consider— (i) any episodic stranding, entanglement, or mortality events, except for unusual mortality events, that occurred in any stranding region in the preceding year; (ii) any data with respect to average annual stranding, entanglements, and mortality events per stranding region; (iii) the size of the marine mammal populations inhabiting a stranding region; and (iv) the conservation of protected, depleted, threatened, or endangered marine mammal species. (5) Application To be eligible for a grant under the grant program, a stranding network participant shall— (A) submit an application in such form and manner as the Secretary prescribes