TRACON controller reported the jyo tower allowed an aircraft to depart before the expect departure c...

Narrative:

I was working the flight data sector when jyo called for a clearance for aircraft X. Traffic management expect departure clearance (edct) times were in effect; and I received a time for aircraft X that was 30 minutes from the current time. I relayed this to jyo and they issued the clearance. The jyo letter of agreement states that releases must go through the departure sector. Jyo apparently forgot this and launched aircraft X without a release from the sector. This was a full 30 minutes after they had received the edct time. Any controller that has been around more than a minute should understand the difference between an edct time and a release time. The jyo test tower has been nothing but a nightmare. They spin IFR arrival aircraft. They delay inbounds because they cannot accept 'opposite direction' IFR arrivals. The procedures handicap the arrival sector. The controllers there consistently try to apply things like tower applied visual separation; which they are not allowed to do. Jyo's proximity to iad makes this a dangerous spot for a 'test' remote tower. This was a bad idea from the start and I believe that there will be a serious incident sooner or later because of the existence of this tower. To solve this particular issue with the edct time; jyo should be required to call tmu to get edct times for departures.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller reported the JYO Tower allowed an aircraft to depart before the Expect Departure Clearance Time.

Narrative: I was working the Flight Data sector when JYO called for a clearance for Aircraft X. Traffic Management Expect Departure Clearance (EDCT) times were in effect; and I received a time for Aircraft X that was 30 minutes from the current time. I relayed this to JYO and they issued the clearance. The JYO Letter of Agreement states that releases must go through the departure sector. JYO apparently forgot this and launched Aircraft X without a release from the sector. This was a full 30 minutes after they had received the EDCT time. Any controller that has been around more than a minute should understand the difference between an EDCT time and a Release time. The JYO test tower has been nothing but a nightmare. They spin IFR arrival aircraft. They delay inbounds because they cannot accept 'opposite direction' IFR arrivals. The procedures handicap the arrival sector. The controllers there consistently try to apply things like tower applied visual separation; which they are not allowed to do. JYO's proximity to IAD makes this a dangerous spot for a 'test' remote tower. This was a bad idea from the start and I believe that there will be a serious incident sooner or later because of the existence of this tower. To solve this particular issue with the EDCT time; JYO should be required to call TMU to get EDCT times for departures.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1592319
Time
Date	201811
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	PCT.TRACON
State Reference	VA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Citation Excel (C560XL)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Flight Data / Clearance Delivery Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 2.0
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

TRACON controller reported the jyo tower allowed an aircraft to depart before the expect departure clearance time.