Environmental racism is a term used by Vincze for the practice of environmental injustice within a racialized context, in which socially marginalized communities and minority groups are subjected to disproportionate exposure of environmental hazards, denial of access to sources of ecological sustenance such as clean air, water, and natural resources, or infringement of environmentally related human rights. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, environmental justice is the fair treatment for people of all races, cultures, and incomes, regarding the development of environmental laws, regulations and policies. As applied to Western Europe, patterns of environmental racism have been postulated in particular toward Romani communities. According to Trehan and Kocze , EU accession for the post-socialist countries has resulted in a de facto centre and periphery within Europe itself, thus exacerbating the already marginal economic and political position of Roma in Europe whose communities continue to subsist as internal colonies within Europe. This peripheral position, in which segregated Romani settlements and their inhabitants become viewed as de-territorialized zones beyond the pale of government responsibility and European Union citizenship, has been identified by some scholars as an aggravating factor in the prevalence of environmental hazards . This practice has been identified in relation to the lack of basic services such as water, housing, sanitation and access to education affecting marginalized Romani communities.
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