[mp2] [question] How to change $ENV{PATH} for a specific script?

I have searched through all the web docs and Usenet, but not found
anything that suggests anything special has to be done in mod_perl
scripts that need to set $ENV{PATH}

My specific example is that I need to add /usr/local/bin to PATH, but
I''ve been unable to find a way to do this, looks like mod_perl
scripts execute the line that changes $ENV{PATH}, but when a qx()
back-tick command is executed, that command is executed under the
value of the original path.

In case it helps, here's a simple test on Fedora FC7 system (more
version info at end):
#!/usr/bin/perl -Tw
print "Content-type: text/plain\n\n";

my $command = "basename";
foreach ( "/bin:", "/invalid/dir:" ) {
$ENV{PATH} = $_;
print "------ Testing command '$command', path $ENV{PATH}\n";
my $string = `$command testing` || '';
print " failed to execute '$command', \$? is $?/" . ($? >> 8) . " : $!\n"
if ($? != 0);
print " output \$string is: $string\n";
}

exit(0);
------------------------------------------------
When run from the command line, I get the correct output:
Content-type: text/plain

------ Testing command 'basename', path /bin:
output $string is: testing

------ Testing command 'basename', path /invalid/dir:
[Wed Jan 16 17:13:39 2008] script.pl: Can't exec "basename": No such
file or directory at /home/cgi/script.pl line 12.
failed to execute 'basename', $? is -1/16777215 : No such file or directory
output $string is:
-------------------------------------------------------
But when I run this under Apache and mod_perl, I get this output -
/bin is still in the PATH even after removal:
------ Testing command 'basename', path /bin:
output $string is: testing

------ Testing command 'basename', path /invalid/dir:
output $string is: testing

-------------------------------------------------------
/perl-status output snippet:
Embedded Perl version v5.8.8 for Apache/2.2.6
Under the "perl-script" handler, the environment is:
MOD_PERL = mod_perl/2.0.3
MOD_PERL_API_VERSION = 2
PATH = /sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin

Any help appreciated!