SF gray. (L.A. Stories).

For years Angelenos traveling north have to deal with smug pronouncements of civic superiority by San Franciscans who inevitably point to L.A.'s heavy smog as a reason for their disdain of our fair city.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black-as in soot black.

The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District joined its counterpart in the San Joaquin Valley last week in tiling suit against the state Air Resources Board to force stricter pollution controls in the Bay Area, where stiff offshore winds generally blow the region's ample pollution eastward. San Francisco is the only urban area in the state that does not require its car owners to adhere to tougher Smog Check II standards, which are credited for greatly reducing harmful emissions.

Both the Sacramento and San Joaquin districts face economic repercussions if they fail to clean up their air by 2005, and both contend much of the problem stems from imported Bay Area pollution.

"The effect of Bay Area pollution is overwhelming on the (San Joaquin) Valley," said Kerry Shearer, a spokesman for the Sacramento AQMD. "Fairness demands that the Bay Area be held to the same standard as the rest of the state when it comes to vehicle pollution."