(a) Employees shall, in fulfilling the obligation of 5 CFR 2635.101(b)(11), report fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption in DOE programs, including on the part of DOE employees, contractors, subcontractors, grantees, or other recipients of DOE financial assistance, to the Office of Inspector General or other appropriate Federal authority.

(b) All alleged violations of the ethical restrictions described in section 1010.102 that are reported in accordance with (a) of this section to an appropriate authority within the Department shall in turn be referred by that authority to the designated agency ethics official or his delegatee, or the Inspector General.