NATCHEZ &8212; Rentech flat lined Monday but breathed new life again Tuesday night.

It took a marathon of bills, talks and waiting, but just after 8:15 p.m. it became official &8212; a conference report containing the full $15 million for the project had been signed by both the House and Senate.

That leaves Gov. Haley Barbour&8217;s signature as the last hurdle that remains for the money. And Barbour has said more than once that, provided Rentech has all its finances in order, he would sign the $15 million request.

Mayor Phillip West was one of the first leaders in Natchez to be notified of the Legislature&8217;s action, which was nearly unanimous.

West rushed out of Tuesday night&8217;s aldermen meeting to answer his cell phone &8212; a call that turned out to be from a local legislator.

West then came back into the meeting to announce the news, which was met with applause from the audience.

West, a former state representative, said it&8217;s not uncommon for legislation to take this many twists and turns before it&8217;s finally approved.

&8220;But it feels good&8221; to get this step behind him, West said.

&8220;It&8217;s a big relief &8230; and a great day for Natchez-Adams County,&8221; supervisors President Darryl Grennell echoed, speaking by phone from the Capitol.

Both Rep. Sam Mims, R-McComb, and Sen. Bob Dearing, said Rentech has the potential to be one of the biggest economic projects in southwest Mississippi in years.

&8220;The biggest since Grand Gulf was built,&8221; Dearing said.

Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, said he hopes the Rentech project will be the catalyst for other industrial projects coming to the region.

Local economic development officials couldn&8217;t be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Local leaders and officials of Colorado-based Rentech requested the $15 million for site work to prepare the old Belwood Country Club site at the port for the $800 million project, projected to open in 2011.

The Rentech plant, which would gasify coal to create a cleaner type of diesel fuel, would mean 200 permanent jobs &8212; with an average salary of $45,000 plus benefits &8212; and 1,500 construction-phase jobs.

The next step, Grennell said, is for Rentech to conduct its engineering study and for local leaders to continue to lobby for federal incentives for the proposed plant.

But then, Grennell added, &8220;Rentech is ready to get started.&8221;