WASHINGTON -- The government has lifted a week-old ban that prevented IBM from getting new federal contracts in an exchange for an agreement from the company to drop its protest of an $84 million Environmental Protection Agency contract it lost last year.

The ban stemmed from an alleged ethical violation in connection with IBM's protest of the EPA contract. Under a reciprocal agreement among federal agencies, when one issues a ban, others follow it.

International Business Ma-chines Corp. said it is continuing to cooperate with the EPA and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, which served grand jury subpoenas seeking documents and testimony relating to the contract.

The two sides Thursday signed an agreement in which IBM agreed to withdraw its protest from the Government Accountability Office and drop any interest in competing for the contract. The company also will refund the EPA any attorneys' fees and costs the agency paid to IBM in regard to the filing of the protest.

"The agreement also requires IBM to conduct a full examination of its federal compliance program ...," EPA spokesman Jon-athan Shradar said in an e-mail.

Several IBM employees allegedly obtained protected information from an EPA employee, "which IBM officials knew was improperly acquired, and used the information during its negotiations to improve its chance of winning a contract," according to the agreement. Such an act violated federal procedures.

IBM placed five individuals on administrative leave pending its own internal investigation and any federal probe, the agreement said.

IBM spokesman Fred Mc-Neese declined comment.

IBM's federal contracts last year amounted to at least $1.3 billion, roughly 1 percent of its revenue.