apache AllowOverride and .htaccess

[Jacob Yocom-Piatt]

have a few apache config settings that are needed in an .htaccess file, 
such as SetEnvIf, RewriteEngine, RewriteBase and RewriteRule. by having 
"AllowOverride All" for the Directory corresponding to where the 
.htaccess file resides one can have these additional settings in the 
.htaccess file and work properly.

is there a more fine-grained way to allow config settings like mentioned 
above in .htaccess files? would also be nice to know if having the 
"AllowOverride All" for a given directory is much of a security worry.

cheers,
jake

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