php - Why is my $_ENV STILL empty?

Question

I had the same problem as these fine folks: Why is my $_ENV empty?

However, after adding 'E' to the variables_order in /etc/php.ini the problem persists. I've restarted my apache server and the result from the 'php -i' command include: 'variables_order => EGPCS => EGPCS'. Still my $_ENV is empty when I try to access it in my php script. Any ideas?

I'm running on OS X 10.6.8, php 5.3.15, apache 2.2.22

Actually, I see it is not entirely empty since var_dump(); returns: "{ ["PATH"]=> string(29) "/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin" }"

Addition:

Running phpinfo() in my script reveals the following:

Configuration File (php.ini) Path:   /etc
Loaded Configuration File:           /private/etc/php.ini

If I open /private/etc/php.ini in a browser I open a file where 'E' is included in the variables_order