2. Background Volume One The Council also has a requirement under Section 79 of the RMA to review its policy statement and plans if the provisions of the policy statement or plans have not been subject to review or change in the previous ten years. It is important to make monitoring results available to the community. Historically, the Council has done this through state of the environment reports, some of which have been significant documents. In addition to assessing the overall resource management framework for Marlborough, reporting on the state of the environment can help influence peoples’ own use of the natural and physical resources of Marlborough. The development of reporting through annual report cards and more comprehensive state of the environment reports will be coordinated to provide the necessary information for the five-yearly rep ort on a review of the efficiency and effectiveness of policies, rules or other methods of the ME P, as required by Section 35(2A) of the RMA. How to use the MEP Identifying regional policy statement, regional plan, regional coastal plan and district plan provisions Volumes 1 and 2 contain a combination of the regional policy statement, regional plan, regional coastal plan and district plan provisions . Section 80 of the RMA requires the Council to identify within a combined document the pro visions that are the regional poic statement, t nhe regioal ly coastal plan, the regional plan or th e district plan. The Council has dentified each provision in the i MEP with one of the following notations: RPS (regional policy statement), C (regonl coastal i a plan), R (regional plan) or D (d t istrict plan). In some cases, policy may havebothan RPS notaion and a plan notation. In thes e instances, the policy is able to be canged throgh he privae plan h u t t change process. Interpretation of lists Many sections of the MEP contain lists. These lists should be regarded as cumulative, except where indicated otherwise. Identifying those rules in the RMP that have immediate legal effect Under Section 86B of the RMA, a rule in a proposed plan has legal effect only when a decision on submissions relating to that rule has been made and publicly notified by the council. Exceptions to this are where the rule: • protects or relates to water, air or soil (for soil conservation); or • protects areas of significant indigenous vegetation; or • protects areas of significant habitats of indigenous fauna; or • protects historic heritage; or • provides for or rel ates to aquaculture activities. Those rules that have immediate legal effect upon notification are identified in Volume 2 of the MEP. The associated controls, information requirements, definitions and appendices applicable to th ose rules also have immediate legal effect. Use of RMA terms The Council has used a number of terms and/or words throughout the MEP, some of which are defined in the RMA and many of which are not. Words that are already defined within Section 2 of the RMA, such as ‘effect’ or ‘contaminant’ have established meanings and over time have been interpreted through the courts; these definitions are not included within the MEP. Words or terms 2 – 12