§ 2508 — Emergency Leave Retention Authority

(a) A duty assignment for an active duty member of the Coast Guard in support of a declaration of a major disaster or emergency by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) or in response to a spill of national significance shall be treated, for the purpose of section 701(e) of title 10, as a duty assignment in support of a contingency operation. (b) In this section: (1) The term “spill of national significance” means a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance that is declared by the Commandant to be a spill of national significance. (2) The term “discharge” has the meaning given that term in section 1001 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C. 2701).