IBM has been suspended from federal contracting. In a statement, the company said federal prosecutors are investigating allegations related to an Environmental Protection Agency contract it was bidding on.

IBM said the company and several employees have been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Alexandria, VA.

EPA added IBM to the Excluded Parties List, meaning the company cannot receive new contracts or task orders or modifications on existing contracts.

The company said it will contest the suspension.

The Defense Department has lifted restrictions on the use of Interior Department contracting shops.

Use of Interior’s Acquisition Services Directorate, formerly known as GovWorks, was authorized after Defense Department’s inspector general found the contracting activity had improved its procedures to comply with DOD rules, according to documents obtained by Federal Computer Week.

DOD had restricted use of Interior services last May.

A security clearance is worth an additional 22% in salary, according to a survey by the online job bank Clearancejobs.com.

The national average salary for contractors with a Top Secret clearance was $72,803 in 2007, a gain of nearly $2700 from the previous year. That is 22% more than comparable jobs that don’t require a clearance.

The company surveyed 4,200 government employees and contractors between March 2007, and February 2008.

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy has raised the ceiling for contractor executives’ salaries to $612,196 for fiscal 1008. Last year’s ceiling was $597,912.

The ceiling is the maximum amount a company can charge the government under cost reimbursement contracts for executive compensation.

SBA is granting a waiver of the nonmanufacturer rule for All Other Miscellaneous Electrical Equipment and Component Manufacturing (Indoor and Outdoor Electrical Lighting Fixtures). The agency says no small businesses are supplying this class of product to the government.

The waiver is effective April 7.