I used to put Global variables in environment.rb with my Rails 2.3.8 application such as:
MAX_ALLOWD_ITEMS = 6
It doesn\'t seem to work in
If you are truly defining it in config/environment.rb like you say, the only way I can duplicate your problem is by running up a server using rails server, then putting in the variable to config/environment.rb, referencing it in a view or controller somewhere and then trying to load that specific part of my application.
If I stop the server and start it again and again try to access that view or controller then it works. I reckon you just haven't restarted your server.