WATERLOO - Iowa bar and restaurant operators have had a year to clear the air.

The state's Smoke-free Air Act turns 1 year old today. The law prohibits smoking in most public places and enclosed areas within places of employment, as well as some outdoor areas, such as entertainment events and amphitheaters. The law also covers office buildings, health-care centers and child-care facilities but exempts gaming floors of licensed casinos, as well as designated hotel and motel rooms.

State officials charged with enforcing the law and merchants bound to abide by it largely agree that the transition has been smooth.

"As a group, we've been kind of surprised at the high compliance," said Amy Schutte, Black Hawk County Tobacco-Free Coalition Coordinator at Pathway Behavioral Services. "We know that what happened was a huge step in protecting the health of workers, because the law covers about 99 percent of workers. We know there's still work to be done with that, but it's reducing health-care costs and saving lives."

Bars, restaurants and bowling alleys attracted considerable attention before and after the law went live last summer.

But proprietors of those establishments said the ban has not caused any undue harm to their businesses.

"So far, so good," said Connie Rommel, office manager at Maple Lanes in Waterloo. "We've had families coming in because of the no smoking, and that's fine; it's supposed to be a family sport."

Bruce Strom, owner of Maple Lanes and Valley Park Lanes in Cedar Falls, two of the area's largest bowling alleys added outdoor platforms to his facilities to accommodate smokers, Rommel said.

Kody Kittelson, assistant manager of Pepper's Grill & Sports Pub in Cedar Falls, said that establishment also has attracted more families since the smoking ban took effect.

"Actually, it's been really good," Kittelson said. "There doesn't ever seem to be a problem."

For smoking patrons, the bar has an area outside designated for smokers.

"It's a more friendly, cleaner environment," he said.

State enforcement officials say compliance with the law has exceeded all their expectations.

"We've had complaints that related to slightly more than 1 percent - 1,015 - of 82,000 Iowa businesses," said Bill Roach, spokesman for Attorney General Tom Miller.

Even that number is misleading, Roach said.

"A very large number of those are violations that aren't deliberate - a misunderstanding of where a sign should be," Roach said.

He said 79 percent of businesses that received first notices of possible violations never get a second.

Most of the "serious" complaints - more than one notice - have involved bars, Roach said.

But, he added, even that number has a caveat.

"Initially, the reaction was you could get away with it, but when they learned that bars were losing their licenses over it, then compliance just really began skyrocketing in a favorable direction," he said.

The ban affected local public employees, as well, although they were not allowed to smoke inside city and county government buildings before the ban went live, anyway.

"It's really been a non-event," Waterloo Mayor Tim Hurley said. "It was mainly interpreting the state law in terms of golf courses and things like that."

Hurley said he had not heard any complaints or had to deal with any infractions involving either employees or citizens.

"There's been an isolated anonymous call about employees allegedly smoking in vehicles," he said. "We track those down and do the best we can with t hem and get reminders on them."

Roach said the law, together with a dollar-a-pack tax hike that took effect in March 2008, also likely has brought some added benefits, in terms of discouraging smoking.

"I think the one two punch was particularly effective," he said.

Schutte, citing statistics from the Iowa Department of Public Health Division of Tobacco Use, Prevention and Control, said 6 percent of Iowa Smokers have called the Iowa Quitline.

"This number doesn't seem high but it is one of the highest per capita call volumes in the nation - two percent is considered good," she said.

She also said Iowa has seen a 22 percent decline in number of adult smokers in the last two years.

"It's a good one-two punch," Roach said, referring to the ban and the 2008 dollar-a-pack tax hike on smokes.

The rule change initially affected Hurley's own pack-a-day smoking habit. But, he said, that's no longer a problem, for one simple reason.

"I quit smoking the day before I had surgery this year," Hurley said.

And, how does the mayor feel being smoke-free?

"I'd love one," he said, laughing.