In financing any forest development road pursuant to section 535 of this title, the Secretary of Agriculture may not provide effective credit for road construction to any purchaser of national forest timber or other forest products.
In each sale of national forest timber or other forest products referred to in this section, the Secretary of Agriculture is encouraged to authorize harvest of the timber or other forest products in a unit included in the sale as soon as road work for that unit is completed and the road work is approved by the Secretary.
For any forest development road that is to be constructed or paid for by a purchaser of national forest timber or other forest products, the Secretary of Agriculture may not require the purchaser to design, construct, or maintain the road (or pay for the design, construction, or maintenance of the road) to a standard higher than the standard, consistent with applicable environmental laws and regulations, that is sufficient for the harvesting and removal of the timber or other forest products, unless the Secretary bears that part of the cost necessary to meet the higher standard.
For any forest development road that is constructed or paid for by a purchaser of national forest timber or other forest products, the estimated cost of the road construction, including subsequent design changes, shall be considered to be money received for purposes of the payments required to be made under section 500 of this title. To the extent that the appraised value of road construction determined under this subsection reflects funds contributed by the Secretary of Agriculture to build the road to a higher standard pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary shall modify the appraisal of the road construction to exclude the effect of the Federal funds.