(a) Not less than 1% of the voters in any county having less than 3,000,000 population may petition the circuit court of such county to order the question to be submitted to the voters of such county whether a solid waste disposal district, the boundaries of which shall be coextensive with the boundaries of the county, shall be organized under this Act. Not less than 1% of the voters in each county of a group of not more than 5 adjoining counties each of which has less than 3,000,000 population may jointly petition the circuit court of the county having the largest population to order the question to be submitted to the voters of such counties whether a district, the boundaries of which shall be coextensive with the boundaries of the group of counties taken as a whole, shall be organized under this Act.
     If the proposed district shall embrace more than one county the petition shall be accompanied by the written approval of the Environmental Protection Agency.
     If the proposed district is coextensive with the boundaries of a single county it shall be designated by the name of that county.
     (b) Not less than 1% of the voters in any township not already included within a solid waste disposal district may petition the circuit court of the county in which it is located to order the question to be submitted to the voters of such township whether a solid waste disposal district, the boundaries of which shall be coextensive with the boundaries of the township shall be organized under this Act. Not less than 1% of the voters in each township of a group of not more than 5 adjoining townships, none of which is already included within a solid waste disposal district, may jointly petition the circuit court of the county in which a majority of the voters reside to order the question to be submitted to the voters of such townships whether a district, the boundaries of which shall be coextensive with the boundaries of the group of townships taken as a whole, shall be organized under this Act.
     If the proposed district shall embrace more than one township the petition shall be accompanied by the written approval of the Environmental Protection Agency.