Here's an extract from a recent letter by US Senator John McCain to contstituants in Arizona. While it doesn't specifically mention mining, I think that omission was intentional, given the ever growing anti mining sentiments in the urban population centers here - call it Californication. Among other things, this helps to explain - at least in part - the ruinous conitions presently seen in the mining sector. ...15 months to election day.

VP

All Americans, but especially Arizonans, should be concerned about the crushing wall of federal environmental regulations that President Obama has announced will be coming our way soon.

One of the most alarming of these new regulations is the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) so-called "Waters of the United States Rule" -- a federal regulation of unprecedented scope. Despite the EPA's assurances, this 299-page rule is so broad that it actually expands EPA's authority to regulate around 60 percent of Americans' water and property, including irrigation ditches, stock ponds, and even dry desert washes.