Starting in 1824, it added the dangerous obstructions of riverine navigation, such as removing sandbars and snags, dredging, lighthouses and other navigation aids; regulations and appropriations regarding navigable rivers and works affecting them, such as cribs, canals and locks, and later bridges, dams, tunnels, pipes, as well as later inter-oceanic canals and ocean cables as they arose. Commercial aspects regarding public health and the prevention of infectious diseases, the purity of food and drugs, regulations regarding the exportation of livestock and foodstuffs, and transportation of livestock also came under the committee's purview.
Starting in 1824, it included hazardous river obstacles like removing sandbars and snags, dredging, lighthouses, and other navigation aids; rules and funding concerning navigable rivers and structures affecting them, such as cribs, canals, locks, and later bridges, dams, tunnels, pipes, and eventually inter-oceanic canals and ocean cables. Public health concerns regarding the prevention of infectious diseases, food and drug purity, regulations on livestock and food exportation, and transportation also fell under the committee's jurisdiction.