AUGUSTA — Consumers who need new oil furnaces and wood stoves could face extra expense from tough new regulations established by the Maine Oil and Fuel Board. The regulations require that chimneys be lined and inadquate oil tanks and oil lines be replaced before new equipment can be installed.

The regulations were written by the fuel board, established by the Legislature to develop safety standards for oil- and wood-fired heating systems. The regulations were adopted after a three-year process including a series of public hearings and a public comment period. They became effective in February.

The regulations are badly needed to protect consumers as well as the oil industry, board members said. The regulations will be difficult to enforce, said Henry Boucher, the fuel board’s senior compliance officer. “We will have problems. But if we do not start now, it will never be done.”

New, hotter, more efficient furnaces do more damage to chimney bricks than older equipment, driving the need for new regulations, he said. The homeowner and oil furnace and wood stove dealers all must accept the burden for needed improvements, Boucher said.

At their spring conference at the Augusta Civic Center on Tuesday, 100 members of the Maine Oil Dealers Association expressed concern that they will be blamed for the regulations, which will increase the cost of new heating systems. Lining a chimney will cost an additional $1,000, dealers said.

“This is going to be expensive for a lot of people,” said Portland oil dealer William Heisel. He asked how low-income families would pay for chimney linings. Dealers that adhere to the new regulations could lose a lot of business to those that don’t, Heisel said.

Oil dealers asked why the regulations were imposed with no time to adjust. One industry publication said the rules effectively would “outlaw chimneys,” a claim denied by representatives of the fuel board, which will enforce the regulations and levy fines against violators.

“We live in a world of liability. I would rather lose a job than lose a lawsuit” as a result of damage or death caused by improper installation, said Paul Moody, compliance officer for the fuel board.

There were different estimates of the number of unlined chimneys in the state. When Boucher estimated that 10 percent of chimneys in Maine are unlined, the dealers burst into laughter. Several dealers told him his estimate was much too low.

Regulations will require that masonry chimneys be protected by a clay tile liner or other approved system that will resist corrosion, softening or cracking from flue gases.

The regulations also will establish oil tank guidelines when a new system is installed. Tanks in dirt cellars will require a concrete slab or bricks for a base. The regulations also will outlaw the use of 55-gallon drums that are used as oil storage tanks, officials said.

There are 241 drums being used by low-income families Down East, according to Michael Bonzagni, director of the Washington-Hancock Community Agency’s heating program. The 11 community action programs in the state spend millions on fuel assistance but have limited funds to meet the new regulations, he said. “We cannot address all of the problems, but we will start,” Bonzagni said.

If the board does not form adequate regulations to cover chimneys, oil tanks and oil lines, another agency will step in, said James Carey, chairman of the fuel board. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, the average cost to clean up an oil leak is $18,000.

Carey asked the oil dealers to look for inadequate oil tanks on their rides home. He said they would not be hard to find.

Oil dealers must get their customers squared away before the competition of natural gas comes to the state, Carey said. “We have to start somewhere. We are starting now to protect the consumer and the industry,” Carey said.

Some of the regulations are nothing new, officials said. Specifications in about 75 percent of new furnaces call for lined chimneys, according to Moody. “You will see a lot more regulations down the road. This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Moody said.

Some oil dealers will lose sales in the beginning stages of the regulations, Moody said, but the industry must take pride in its professionalism and report competitors who do shoddy work or ignore the new regulations. “The board cannot enforce these regulations unless they hear from you,” Moody said.